Other Contributions

NATURE NOTES

Amphibia: Anura

Dendropsophus microcephalus. Predation. Dendropsophus microcephalus is a small, arboreal, insectivorous, yellowish-orange or tan treefrog (snout–vent length 27–32 mm), characterized by irregular, dark markings, often in the form of an H or X at the level of the shoulders; this species occurs at low elevations along the Gulf and Caribbean slopes from southern Veracruz, Mexico, and across the Yucatan Peninsula to northern Honduras, and on the Pacific slope from Nicaragua to Panama, Colombia, and to the Amazon Basin (Lee, 1996, 2000; Köhler, 2008). During night sampling on 22 April 2016, we observed a Tiger Wandering Spider (Cupiennius salei; family Ctenidae) preying on an adult D. microcephalus at a height of 80 cm above the ground on shrubby vegetation. The spider had subdued the frog by puncturing its dorsum with its chelicerae (Fig. 1A), and soon after began to ingest it (Fig. 1B). The event occurred at Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico (17°59'26"N, 92°58'16"W; datum WGS 84; elev. 10 m) in a patch of secondary vegetation at the División Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco.

Fig. 1. A Tiger Wandering Spider, Cupiennius salei, preying on a Dendropsophus microcephalus at Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. ' © Ana Laura de la Cruz-Ulín

Many studies have reported spiders attacking and consuming amphibians (e.g., Menin et al., 2005; Toledo, 2005; Maffei et al., 2010; Palumbo et al., 2012), but to our knowledge this is the first record of a ctenid spider preying on D. microcephalus, an event likely related to the preferentially nocturnal habits of both groups.

Literature Cited

Köhler, G. 2008. Amphibians of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpe- Lee, J. C. 2000. A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of ton, Offebach, Germany. the Maya World: The Lowlands of Mexico, Northern Guate- Lee, J. C. 1996. The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Yucatán Pen- mala, and Belize. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell insula. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University University Press, Ithaca, New York, United States. Press, Ithaca, New York, United States. Maffei, F., F. K. Ubaid, and J. Jim. 2010. Predation of herps by spiders (Araneae) in the Brazilian Cerrado. Herpetology Notes 3: 167–170.

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Menin, M., D. J. Rodrigues, and C. S. Azevedo. 2005. Predation Cycloramphus boraceiensis and the spider Trechaleoides on amphibians by spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) in the Neo- biocellata in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil. Her- tropical region. Phyllomedusa 4: 39–47. petology Notes 5: 67–68. Palumbo, M., L. R. Viera, C. J. Dias, and M. Martins. 2012. Toledo, L. F. 2005. Predation of juvenile and adult anurans by Predator or prey? Predatory interactions between the frog invertebrates: current knowledge and perspectives. Herpeto- logical Review 36: 395–400.

Liliana Ríos-Rodas, María del Rosario Barragán-Vazquez, and Manuel Pérez de la Cruz

Laboratorio de Colecciones. División Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco Carretera Villahermosa-Cárdenas km. 0.5, entronque a Bosques de Saloya, C. P. 86039, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]

Prevalence and characteristics of overwintering intradermal parasites in Western Narrow-mouthed Toads, Gastrophryne olivacea (Anura: Microhylidae)

Larval Hannemania mites, commonly known as chiggers, are known to parasitize several amphibian species (Jung et al., 2000; Sladky et al., 2000) by burrowing intradermally in the stratum spongosium, where they appear as conspicuous orange to red pustules (Malone and Paredes, 2005). Some of the costs associated with high chigger infections on amphibians include inflammation, necrosis, and reduced mobility (Sladky et al., 2000). One of the infected frogs (Hyla arenicolor) examined by Sladky et al. (2000) died prior to being treated for chiggers, and two more died during the course of treatments with Ivermectin® to remove the mites. Additionally, recent literature suggests that reduced mobility and associated costs in treated individuals likely are a consequence of greater parasite loads on the limbs of the anuran hosts (Malone and Paredes, 2005; Espino del Castillo et al., 2011). Gastrophryne olivacea is one of 22 anuran species known to occur in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (Dixon, 2013). The distribution of this species extends from southern Nebraska southward to Texas, with isolated populations in Arkansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, in the United States, and in Mexico southward and westward to Chihuahua, Durango, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí (Frost, 2016). Hannemania multifemorala is the only chigger mite known to infect G. olivacea. Intradermal parasite infections of this species, however, have not been described extensively in Texas. On 21 November 2014 from 1800 to 2300 h, we visited Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas (26.126411°N, -97.956518°W; WGS 84). During our survey, we collected and released 33 individuals of G. olivacea along hiking trails and the fringes of shallow bodies of water throughout the site. All of the examinations were in-situ, and the individuals were released unharmed at the site of collection. The assessment consisted of a visual count of chigger mites, a photograph of each individual, and a record of how many of the mites were present on the dorsal side of the head, vocal sac, forelimbs, thigh, lower hind limbs (tibia and foot), ventral trunk, dorsal trunk, and pelvic patch. For consistency, only one researcher examined all the individuals. During an analysis of our records, we found that the prevalence of infection was 97% (32/33). The mean and median of intensity in the infected individuals of G. olivacea were 14.5 and 6, respectively. We then assessed the normality of the data by using the Shapiro-Wilk test. As the data lacked normality (P < 0.5), we used Friedman’s test to determine significant differences in the level of parasitism among the anuran body regions; this statistic confirms the existence of significant differences in the nine infected anuran body regions (P < 0.0001). We then performed a Nemenyi test to identify the body regions with a significantly different parasite load. We used this post-hoc test, because the sample sizes when comparing the body regions (n = 33) were equal. After performing the post-hoc test, we found that the parasite load on the pelvic patch differed significantly to the one on the head (P < 0.0001), the forelimb (P < 0.01), the thigh (P < 0.0001), the dorsal trunk (P < 0.01), the ventral trunk (P < 0.05), and the vocal sac (P < 0.0001). Additionally, the parasite load on the thigh differed significantly from the one on the head (P < 0.01), the thigh (P < 0.01), and the vocal sac (P < 0.05). Finally, we found statistical differences in parasite load

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1002 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes when comparing the limb to the head (P < 0.01) and the thigh (P < 0.01). From these results, we suggest that the pelvic patch and the thigh might be more parasitized than the remaining predefined body regions of G. olivacea. These results were surprising, as previous work has shown that chigger mite infections typically are greater on the hind limbs, and not on the pelvic seat. We performed all statistical analyses using R. v. 3.1.2. For anuran species, the energetic and physiological consequences of high parasite loads are poorly understood. Beyond showing lesions and swollen extremities, which may limit locomotion, the individuals appeared healthy. Due to the nature of the parasite/host relationship, we believe that high larval Hannemania infestations do not cause direct mortality, but instead increase the risk of mortality by reducing the ability of the host to escape predators, and possibly disrupt the water and electrolyte balance in the host owing to the relatively high surface area being affected on a small species such as G. olivacea. Heavy parasitism of the pelvic seat might be particularly deleterious in frogs, as McClanahan and Baldwin (1969) stated that in Anaxyrus punctatus the pelvic patch accounts for only 10% of an individual’s surface area, but produces 70% of the water uptake by dehydrated A. punctatus. Surveys and ongoing monitoring of the population of G. olivacea at this site and others are being scheduled to encompass a full year of surveys to determine seasonal outbreaks and the possible effects on their behavior and mortality. Additionally, we suggest a comparative study among populations from different localities to determine if habitat characteristics (e.g. water quality parameters) create a more conducive environment for enabling greater Hannemania infections on amphibian assemblages occurring at given sites. Finally, we were unable to identify the Hannemania mite to species level, as we did not observe any adults. Our present goal is to identify the species of Hannemania that infects this population of G. olivacea, as only one reported species of Hannemania, from the state of Kansas, has been documented (Walters et al., 2011).

Fig. 1. (A, B) Two individuals of Gastrophryne olivacea examined in the current study displaying the high prevalence of chigger mites, Hannemania sp., near near the pelvic plate and the thigh area. ' © Mayra Oyervides

Acknowledgments.––We especially thank the staff at Estero Llano Grande State Park for after hour access to the study site and their continued support. Our collections were made under Texas Parks and Wildlife Scientific Permit for Research (SPR-0913-130). Additionally, we thank Dr. Tamer Oraby for his advice in conducting the statistical analyses, and Michael Forstner for comments on a draft of the manuscript. RP was supported by NIH grant 5R25GM100866-02 564, awarded to Robert K. Dearth and Jason G. Parsons.

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Literature Cited

Dixon, J. R. 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas: With Keys, (Rio Grande Leopard Frog). Mite Infestation. Herpetological Taxonomic Synopses, Bibliography, and Distribution Maps. Review 32: 33–34. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas, Unit- Malone, J. H., and R. Paredes-Leon. 2005. Characteristics of chig- ed States. ger mite (Hannemania sp.) parasitism on Eleutherodactylus Espino del Castillo, A., R. Paredes-Leon, and J. B. Morales- marnockii (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae). Texas Journal of Malacara. 2011. Presence of intradermal chigger mite Science 57: 345–348. Hannemania hylae (Ewing, 1925) (Acari: Leeuwenhoekid- McClanahan, L., Jr., and R. Baldwin. 1969. Rate of water uptake dae) in the troglophile frog Eleutherodactylus longipes through the integument of the desert toad, Bufo punctatus. (Anura: Brachycephalidae) at Los Riscos Cave, Querétaro, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 28: 381–389. Mexico. International Journal of Acarology 37: 427–440. Sladky, K. K., T. M. Norton, and M. R. Loomis. 2000. Trombicu- Frost, D. R. 2016. Amphibian Species of the World: An Online lid mites (Hannemania sp.) in Canyon Tree Frogs (Hyla aren- Reference. American Museum of Natural History, New icolor). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 31: 570–575. York, New York, United States. (www.research.amnh.org/ Walters, B. L., J. O. Whitaker, Jr., N. S. Gikas, and W. J. herpetology/amphibia/index.html; accessed 2 November Wren. 2011. Host and distribution of chiggers (Trombicu- 2016). lidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae), of North American wild Jung, R. E., S. Claeson, J. E. Wallace, and W. C. Welbourn, Jr. vertebrates north of Mexico. Faculty Publications from the 2001. Natural History Notes. Eleutherodactylus guttilatus Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of (Spotted Chirping Frog), Bufo punctatus (Red-spotted Toad), Nebraska – Lincoln. 184pp. (www.digitalcommons.unl.edu/ Hyla arenicolor (Canyon Tree Frog), and Rana berlandieri parasitologyfacpubs/697).

Mayra Oyervides1, Jasmine A. Hernandez1, Andrea Lozano2, Ramiro Patino2, Adriana Huerta2, Sara Baldazo2, and Maximiliano Barbosa2

1Texas State University- San Marcos, Texas, Department of Biology, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666- 4684, United States. Email: [email protected] (MO, Corresponding author) 2The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, Texas 78539, United States.

Reptilia: Crocodylia

Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807). Diet. The American Crocodile, Crocodylus acutus, is a widely distributed species in coastal regions of the Neotropics (Thorbjarnarson, 1989). The feeding habits of this species vary during on- togenetic development, as during the early stages individuals feed on arachnids, aquatic and terrestrial insects, and small fishes, and as they grow they ingest larger prey and a greater diversity of prey items, including crustaceans, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals (Casas-Andreu and Barrios-Quiroz, 2003; Cupul-Magaña et al., 2008; Villegas and Schmitter-Soto, 2008; Platt et al., 2013). A recent review of prey consumption across most of the distribution of C. acutus indicated the following 53 food items identified to species-level (Cupul-Magaña et al., 2015): arthropods (two species), crustaceans (14), fishes (10), amphibians (one), reptiles (11), birds (12), and mammals (three). On 29 August 2016, in a water hazard at Marina Vallarta Club de Golf, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico (20°39'59"N, 105°15'46"W; datum: WGS 84; elev. < 5 m), we observed and photographed an adult C. acutus (total length ≤ 3 m; individual not captured or sexed) eating a live juvenile Green-backed Heron, Butorides virescens (Fig. 1). Hernández-Vázquez and Fernández-Aceves (1999) suggested that chicks of B. virescens falling into the water of La Manzanilla estuary, in Jalisco, Mexico, might become easy prey for C. acutus. To our knowledge, this note represents the first photographic record and confirmation of C. acutus preying on B. virescens.

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Fig. 1. Predation of Butorides virescens by Crocodylus acutus in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. (A) A B. virescens walking along the edge of the water hazard; (B) a C. acutus soon after capturing a B. virescens as the bird was wading in the water hazard; (C) the C. acutus positions the B. virescens in its mouth; and (D) swallows the bird. ' © Frank Mc Cann

Literature Cited

Casas-Andreu, G., and G. Barrios-Quiroz. 2003. Hábitos ali- Jalisco, México / Reproduction of Cochlearius cochlearius menticios de Crocodylus acutus (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) (Boat-billed Heron) and Butorides virescens (Green-backed determinados por el análisis de sus excretas en la costa de Heron) in La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico. Ciencias Marinas Jalisco, México. Anales del Instituto de Biología, Univer- 25: 277–291. sidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Serie Zoología 74: Platt, S. G., J. B. Throbjarnarson, T. R. Rainwater, and D. R. 35–42. Martin. 2013. Diet of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus Cupul-Magaña, F. G., F. Mc Cann, and A. H. Escobedo-Galván. acutus) in marine environments of coastal Belize. Journal of 2015. Observación del consumo de presas en el Cocodrilo Herpetology 47: 1–10. Americano (Crocodylus acutus Cuvier, 1807): registro Thorbjarnarson, J. B. 1989. Ecology of the American Crocodile, fotográfico. Quehacer Científico en Chiapas 10: 11–15. Crocodylus acutus. Pp. 228–259 In Crocodiles: Their Ecology, Cupul-Magaña. F. G., A. Rubio-Delgado, F. Molano-Rendón, Management, and Conservation. A Special Publication of the and A. Reyes-Juárez. 2008. Contenido estomacal de neo- IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. natos de Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) en Boca Negra, Villegas, A., and J. J. Schmitter-Soto. 2008. Feeding habits of Jalisco. Boletín de la Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana 16: the American Crocodile, Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) 41–45. (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) in the southern coast of Quintana Hernández-Vázquez, S., and G. J. Fernández-Aceves. 1999. Roo, Mexico. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.) 24: 117–124. Reproducción de Cochlearius cochlearius (Garza Cucha- rón) y Butorides virescens (Garza Verde) en La Manzanilla,

Fabio Germán Cupul-Magaña1, Frank Mc Cann2, and Armando H. Escobedo-Galván1

1Centro Universitario de la Costa, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 203, Delegación Ixtapa, C.P. 48280, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Condominio Girasol departamento 12, carretera a Mismaloya km 8.5, C.P. 48390, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.

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Reptilia: Squamata (lizards)

Basiliscus vittatus. Oviposition site. Basiliscus vittatus is an oviparous lizard with seasonal reproduction in Mexico (Campbell, 1998; Suárez-Varón, 2015), and with a widespread distribution that extends along the lowlands of both coasts of Mexico from southern Tamaulipas and Jalisco southward through Central America to northwestern Colombia, and also has been introduced into Florida, in the United States (Hirth, 1963; Campbell, 1998; Castañeda- Hernández et al., 2011). Previous studies have reported different reproductive attributes for B. vittatus (Alvarez-del Toro, 1982; Fitch, 1985; Lee, 1996; Savage, 2002; Köhler, 2008), but other than anecdotal data (Alvarez-del Toro, 1982) information on specific traits used by females to choose their nesting sites are nonexistent and only includes records for other species in the genus, e.g., B. basiliscus (Ortleb, 1965; Lieberman, 1980). Thus, herein we provide observational data, egg characteristics, and the physical description of a nesting site for B. vittatus in Mexico. On April 18 2016 at approximately 1855 h, in Ejido López Mateos, La Selva del Marinero, Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico (18.441361°N, -94.967611°W; WGS 84; elev. 172 m), we observed a female B. vittatus in the process of laying eggs, roughly 2.34 m from the shore of the Río Coxcoapan. Upon noticing our presence, the female interrupted the deposition process to avoid capture by our team. Nevertheless, upon careful examination of the nesting site we found two eggs that we marked individually for identification (Fig. 1). The nest was located among rounded river rocks, in alluvial soil composed of gravel and fine sand; the surface of the nest was located within a patch of sun and shade. The dimensions of the nest were 86 mm long × 70 mm wide × 32 mm deep. We recorded the substrate temperature outside of the nest as 28.4°C, and the inside temperature as 28°C. The eggs were oval in shape, white in coloration, and their shells were soft and pliable. The measurements and mass of the two eggs were as follows: 18.3 mm long × 12.2 mm wide with a mass of 1.5 g (egg No. 1), and 19.4 mm long × 10.7 mm wide with a mass of 1.5 g (egg No. 2). To our knowledge, this is the first report that describes the specific characteristics of a natural nest and egg measurements from a recent oviposition event of B. vittatus in Mexico.

Fig. 1. A nest of Basiliscus vittatus excavated by a female in the process of laying eggs before noticing the presence of our research team, at La Selva del Marinero, Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico. ' © Orlando Suárez-Rodríguez

Acknowledgments.––We thank to the community of La Selva del Marinero for field assistance.

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Literature Cited

Alvarez del Toro, M. 1982. Los Reptiles de Chiapas. Instituto Lee, J. C. 1996. The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Yucatán Pen- de Historia Natural, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico. insula. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Campbell, J. A. 1998. Amphibians and Reptiles of Northern Press, Ithaca, New York, United States. Guatemala, the Yucatán, and Belize. University of Oklaho- Lieberman, A. 1980. Nesting of the basilisk lizard (Basiliscus bas- ma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, United States. iliscus). Journal of Herpetology 14: 103–105. Casteñada-Hernández, C., T. Ramírez-Valverde, Y. Meza-Par- Ortleb, E. 1965. Hatching of basilisk eggs. Herpetologica. 20: ral, A. Sarmiento-Rojas, and A. Martínez-Campos. 2011. 277–279. Ampliación de la distribución geográfica de Basiliscus vitta- Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: tus en el Estado de Puebla. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversi- A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. dad 82: 1,046–1,048. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United Fitch, H. S. 1985. Variation in clutch and litter size in New World States. reptiles. Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Nat- Suárez-Varón, G. 2015. Ecología de Basiliscus vittatus (Squamata, ural History, University of Kansas 76: 1–76. Corytophanidae): Estructura Poblacional y Proporción Sexu- Hirth, H. F. 1963. The ecology of two lizards on a tropical beach. al. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis. Universidad Autónoma Ecological Monographs 33: 83–112. del Estado de México, Mexico. Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, Offenbach, Germany.

Gabriel Suárez-Varón1, Orlando Suárez-Rodríguez1, Kevin M. Gribbins2, and Oswaldo Hernández- Gallegos1

1Laboratorio de Herpetología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Mexico, Instituto Literario 100, Toluca Centro, C. P. 50000, Estado de México, Mexico. E-mails: [email protected] (GSV, Corresponding author), [email protected], and [email protected]

2Department of Biology, University of Indianapolis, 1400 E. Hanna Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana 46227, United States. E-mail: [email protected]

Reproductive and parental care notes for Norops beckeri (Boulanger, 1891) in northern Guatemala Köhler (2010) reviewed the species of anoles related to Norops (as Anolis) pentaprion in Central America, based on an analysis of coloration, morphometrics, and scalation, and recognized seven species in the region. Of these, Norops (as Anolis) beckeri (Boulenger, 1881) was resurrected from synonymy for the pentaprion-like populations of anoles distributed from southeastern Mexico to northern Nicaragua. Norops beckeri can be distinguished from species related to N. pentaprion in Central America in that the proximal subdigital scales of the toes are differentiated as slightly broadened lamellae, and the dewlap in males contains 5–6 gorgetal-sternal scale rows, with about 16–18 scales per row. From 1 June to 14 July of 2015, during an excursion with Indigo Expeditions to Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas, Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre, Departamento de Petén, Guatemala, we observed the behavior of a female N. beckeri that presumably had deposited a clutch of seven eggs in a bromeliad (Bromeliaceae). On 9 July at approximately 1130 h, we found seven eggs within the leaves of a bromeliad in a tree, at a height of ca. 5 m above the ground. The tree was located next to a balcony at the research station, which allowed us an opportunity to observe the eggs. The color of one of the eggs was brown, and it was lying partially in a pool of water at the base of the leaves. One of the eggs appeared indented, which often is a sign that hatching is imminent (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1. Seven Norops beckeri eggs deposited on the base of a bromeliad leaf at Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas, Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre, Departamento de Petén, Guatemala. The top egg was indented, often a sign that hatching is imminent, and the color of the bottom egg (partially submerged in water) was a pale brown, unlike the rest of the clutch. ' © Kimberly C. Carter

We did not observe any changes to the eggs on 10 or 11 July, but the following day at 1030 h, we witnessed an adult female N. beckeri grasping a leaf perpendicular to the eggs. The female kept examining the eggs and appeared to be exhaling heavily over them, and then started licking them. The female then retreated to the top of the bromeliad, but after approximately 2 min returned to the eggs and repeated the aforementioned behaviors. She repeated this process four times, before retreating higher up in the tree; 15 min later, however, she repeated these behaviors. We took photographs and video footage at a distance, so as not to disturb the female (Fig. 2A–C). On 14 July at 1000 h, we observed the female on a different leaf of the bromeliad, at a distance of ca. 30 cm from the eggs. The female appeared to have positioned herself in an area where she could observe the eggs. On 15 July, we observed a Mexican Parrot Snake (Leptophis mexicanus) in the vicinity of the clutch, perhaps attempting to prey on the adult female. During this time an 8th egg was deposited, and all of the other eggs apparently had hatched. We believe the female N. beckeri displayed maternal care in two ways. The first was by guarding the eggs and apparently distracting a potential predator. By retreating from the eggs, the female N. beckeri might have been draw- ing the attention of the snake away from the eggs. Although the diet of L. mexicanus consists largely of anurans, this species feeds on a variety of food items, including anoles and bird eggs (Henderson, 1982: Lee, 1996; Savage, 2002); anole eggs, therefore, might constitute part of the natural diet of this snake. The second way of displaying maternal care was by actively tending to the eggs and the nest. The female was observed examining the clutch, exhaling air over the eggs, and what appeared to be either cleaning of the eggs with her tongue or removing water from the base of the bromeliad; this conclusion was difficult to confirm owing to the angle of our observations. Cleaning the eggs seems unlikely, however, as most reptiles lay their eggs underground where they are subject to a large amount of substrate debris, as well as bacteria. The female perhaps was exhaling air over the eggs to provide fresh air, presumably to prevent the air around the eggs from stagnating. The eggs were deposited in an area that likely would accumulate water, thereby resulting in unviable eggs. We propose that the female was exhibiting a combination of the last two behaviors. Additionally, our observations support the proposal that anoles lay independent, single eggs every 5–25 days during the breeding season (Losos, 2009), as the female N. beckeri deposited an additional egg to the clutch we first observed. These observations allowed us to report previously unknown behavioral traits by an interesting species, but they also bring additional questions. Further work is necessary to answer questions regarding the selection of an oviposition site that was prone to flooding, and to clarify the potential behaviors of the parental care we observed.

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Fig. 2. Video stills of the female Norops beckeri: (A) grasping the edge of a bromeliad leaf; the female was observed lapping her tongue after entering the bromeliad to lick her eggs and/or the water at the base of the leaf; (B) entering the bromeliad; and (C) inspecting the eggs prior to exhaling air and licking them. ' © Kimberly C. Carter

Acknowledgments.––We thank the staff at Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas for their courtesies and hard work, and Stuart Graham for providing comments on early drafts of this manuscript. The data presented in this paper was collected under Indigo Expeditions research permit 008/2015 issued by Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP), Guatemala. Finally, we thank CONAP for their continued support of our work.

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Literature Cited

Henderson, R. W. 1982. Trophic relationships and foraging strat- Losos, J. B. 2009. Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree: Ecology and egies of some New World tree snakes (Leptophis, Oxybelis, Adaptive Radiation of Anoles. University of California Press, Uromacer). Amphibia-Reptilia 3: 71–80. Berkeley, California, United States. Köhler, G. 2010. A revision of the Central American species Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: related to Anolis pentaprion with the resurrection of A. beck- A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. eri and the description of a new species (Squamata: Polych- The University of Chicago Press, Chicago Illinois, United rotidae). Zootaxa 2,354: 1–18. States. Lee, J. C. The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, United States.

John. B. Owens 1, Kimberley C. Carter1, Cornelio Santiago Chablé Tesucún2, and Rowland Griffin3

1Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Lab, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, Wales, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected] (JBO, Corresponding author) 2Estación Biológica Las Guacamayas, E13 Calle 5-75 Zona 1, Barrio 3 de Abril, San Benito, Petén, Guatemala. 3Director of Research, Indigo Expeditions, Brooklea, John Beales Hill, Pilton, Somerset, England, United Kingdom.

Phrynosoma solare. Nocturnal activity. Several reports in the literature have noted nocturnal activity in primarily diurnal reptiles, including Gopherus agassizii and Gambelia wislizenii (Huey, 1982), Sceloporus clarkii (Martínez- Méndez et al., 2013), and the horned lizards P. platyrhinos, P. cornutum, P. modestum, and P. asio (Harris, 1958; Williams, 1959; Lara-Resendiz et al., 2013; Raya-García, 2014). Most of these records are from arid environments. On 28 August 2016 at 0049 h, we observed an adult male Regal Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma solare, active at night in desert scrub habitat near Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (28°48'45.74"N, 110°49'27.06"W; datum WGS 84; elev. 235 m). We assume the individual was active because it was found in an open area, with rocky soil and no evidence of a refuge (bunchgrass, shrubs, or a hole) within 4 m, and also because it was near (1.5 m) an active ant nest. In the Sonoran Desert, diurnal lizards such as Phrynosoma are exposed to high diurnal temperatures (up to 43ºC; Lara-Resendiz et al., 2014), which shortens their time for diurnal activity and forces their retreat. After sunset, however, they can prolong their potential foraging time, as high diurnal temperatures result in elevated temperatures in the air, tree trunks, the soil, and rocks, which might be enough to maintain a lizard’s body temperature in the activity range until midnight or later. Thus, this observation suggests the possibility that P. solare might complete its biological activities at night, because of the high daytime temperatures.

Acknowledgments.––We thank Rancho La Viguita for their accommodations and use of their facilities during our stay, and Jules Wyman for comments on the manuscript. The collection permit was SEMARNAT FAUT 074.

Literature Cited

Harris, R. W. 1958. A nocturnal tendency in Phrynosoma Horned Lizard). Nocturnal activity behavior. Herpetological platyrhinos. Copeia 1958: 222. Review 44: 326–327. Huey, R. B. 1982. Temperature, physiology, and ecology of rep- Lara-Resendiz, R. A., T. Jezkova, P. C. Rosen, and F. R. Méndez-de tiles. Pp. 25–91. In C. Gans and F. H. Pough, (Eds.), Biology la Cruz. 2014. Thermoregulation during the summer season of the Reptilia. Academic Press, New York, United States. in the Goode’s Horned Lizard Phrynosoma goodei (Iguania: Lara-Resendiz, R. A., H. Gadsden, and F. R. Méndez-de la Cruz. Phrynosomatidae) in Sonoran Desert. Amphibia-Reptilia 35: 2013. Natural History Notes. Phrynosoma cornutum (Texas 161–172.

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Martínez-Méndez, N., R. A. Lara-Resendiz, and C. Blair. 2013. Raya-García, E. 2014. Natural History Notes. Phrynosoma asio Natural History Notes. Sceloporus clarkii (Clark’s Spiny (Giant Horned Lizard). Crepuscular and nocturnal activity. Lizard). Nocturnal foraging activity. Herpetological Review Herpetological Review 45: 330. 44: 148. Williams, K. L. 1959. Nocturnal activity of some species of horned lizards, genus Phrynosoma. Herpetologica 15: 43.

Rafael A. Lara-Resendiz1, Rodrigo Garcia-Figueroa2, and Ramón F. Ochoa-Jara3

1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Marine Sciences Building A316, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 2Pro-Desert, Colonia Reforma Norte, 83157, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. 3Universidad de Sonora. Blvd. Luis Encinas S/N, Col. Centro, 83000, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

Phyllodactylus xanti. Thermoregulatory activity. In ectotherms like lizards, thermoregulation is key to performing biological and social functions (Hertz et al., 1993). A plethora of thermoregulatory studies are available for diurnal lizards (Sinervo et al., 2010), but those for nocturnal lizards are less abundant (Lara-Resendiz et al., 2013). Moreover, little information is available on the natural history of some Mexican endemic nocturnal lizards. Such is the case with Phyllodactylus xanti, as information on thermoregulatory activity along its distribution in the Baja California Peninsula and the islands of Gulf of California, Mexico, remains unavailable. Moreover, lizards of the genus Phyllodactylus have shown a tendency for high levels of genetic divergence in nearby regions (Blair et al., 2013)tropical dry forests (TDF, and in P. xanthi insular populations might represent a different species from those on the mainland. Here we present new data on thermoregulatory activity in P. xanti from Isla San Esteban, in the Gulf of Baja California. During fieldwork in 2005 (7–11 September) we captured and released 15 P. xanti at night. We recorded the time of capture and perch site, as well as the body temperature (Tb) of the individuals via the cloaca, the substrate temperature (Ts), and the air temperature (Ta: 2 cm above the site perch) using a Miller & Weber quick reading thermometer. We encountered the geckos from 1700 to 2259 h. The mean Tb for all the lizards was 31.6 ± 0.41, and the Ts and Ta were 29.05 ± 0.74 and 29.57 ± 0.75, respectively. The Tb showed a positive relationship with Ta (r = 0.57; P < 0.05) and Ts (r = 0.56, P < 0.05); nevertheless both environmental temperatures explain the same proportion of variance (r2 = 0.32). Of the total number of collected geckos, 12 (80%) were found in rocks and 3(20)% in vegetation (on columnar cacti: Pachycereus pringlei (Fig. 1A, B). In general, members of the genus Phyllodactylus are active at night, perhaps because of the high daytime temperatures in the regions they inhabit (tropical dry forest and desert scrub; Dixon, 1964). On Isla San Esteban, P. xanti shows such nocturnal activity. Regarding its habitat use, P. xanti is a saxicolous species (Grismer, 2002), although our data suggests arboreal perching for conducting thermoregulatory activities, foraging, camouflage, and presumably for finding refuges on the crevices. Additional information on the natural history of P. xanti on the Baja California peninsula and the islands of the Sea of Cortés is necessary to better understand the ecology of this species, as well as its evolutionary patterns and possible risk of extinction associated with climate change.

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Fig. 1. (A, B) Phyllodactylus xanti perching and thermoregulating on a columnar cacti (Pachycereus pringlei) in Isla San Esteban, Gulf of Baja California, Mexico. ' © Rafael A. Lara-Resendiz

Literature Cited

Blair, C., V. H. Jiménez-Arcos, F. R. Mendez-de la Cruz, and Hertz, P. E., R. B. Huey, and R.D. Stevenson. 1993. Evaluating R.W. Murphy. 2013. Landscape genetics of leaf-toed geckos temperature regulation by field-active ectotherms: the fal- in the tropical dry forest of northern Mexico. PLoS ONE lacy of the inappropiate question. American Naturalist 142: 8(2) e57433. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057433. 796–818. Dixon, J. R. 1964. The systematics and distribution of lizards Lara-Resendiz, R. A., D. M. Arenas-Moreno, and F. R. Mén- of the genus Phyllodactylus in North and Central Ameri- dez-de La Cruz. 2013. Termorregulación diurna y noc- ca. New Mexico State University Science Bulletin 1: 139. turna de la lagartija Phyllodactylus bordai (Gekkota: Grismer, L. L. 2002. Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California: Phyllodactylidae) en una región semiárida del centro de Including its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of México. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 86: 127–35. Cortés. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, Sinervo, B., et al. (25 co-authors). 2010. Erosion of lizard diversi- United States. ty by climate change and altered thermal niches. Science 328: 894–99.

Víctor H. Jiménez-Arcos1, Aníbal H. Díaz de la Vega-Pérez2, Rafael A. Lara-Resendiz3, Ali Rabatsky4, and Fausto R. Méndez-de la Cruz5

1Laboratorio de Ecología, UBIPRO, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Av. de los Barrios No. 1, C.P. 54090, Los Reyes Ixtacala, Tlalnepantla, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala. Km 1.5 carretera Tlaxcala/Puebla, C.P. 90070, Tlaxcala, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Marine Sciences Building A316, University of California, Santa Cruz, 95064 California, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 4Palmer College of Chiropractic, Department of Life Sciences, 4777 City Center Parkway, Port Orange, Florida, 32129. E-mail: [email protected] 5Laboratorio de Herpetología, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Coyoacán, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

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First record of snake predation in Xenosaurid lizards: Xenosaurus platyceps feeding on Adelphicos quadrivirgatum

The diet of xenosaurid lizards has been relatively well documented, and in most species studied the diet has consisted mostly of insects (Lemos-Espinal et al., 2012; Zamora-Abrego and Ortega-León, 2016). Nevertheless, lizards of the genus Xenosaurus are known to feed on vertebrates. Presch (1981) reported the remains of a lizard of the genus Sceloporus (tentatively S. formosus) and Ballinger et al. (1995) found the remains of a teiid lizard (either Ameiva or Aspidoscelis) in the stomach contents of X. grandis. Mammal remains also have been documented in the stomach contents of X. newmanorum (Lemos-Espinal et al., 2003) and X. phalaronatereon (García-Vázquez et al., 2009). Snakes, however, have not been reported in the diet of Xenosaurus. On 18 June 2003, during a mark-recapture study in sub-perennial tropical forest (= tropical semi-deciduous forest) at an elevation of 420 m within Reserva de la Biosfera El Cielo, Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico, we found a gravid female of X. platyceps snout–vent length [SVL] = 123 mm, body mass = 30 g) with middle part of its body exposed in a crevice (2.35 cm tall, 31 cm wide, 35 cm deep) positioned at a 45° angle from the horizontal ground. The tail of a snake was visible in the lizard’s mouth, and when the lizard was extracted from the crevice she regurgitated a dead adult female Adelphicos quadrivirgatum (SVL = 270 mm, body mass = 8.4 g). Based on the stomach contents found in 27 specimens of X. platyceps, Lemos-Espinal et al. (2003) noted that the diet of this species consists primarily of insects, mostly adult coleopterans (in quantity) and orthopterans (in volume), but found no evidence of vertebrate consumption. Our finding, therefore, is the first report of vertebrate consumption in X. platyceps. The consumption of the prey item represents a relative prey mass (dividing the prey mass by the mass of the predator; Rodríguez-Robles, 2002) of 0.28, which suggests a preference for high body mass prey items in xenosaurid lizards (Zamora-Abrego and Ortega-León, 2016). This information is relevant in context of the reproductive condition, given the energetic requirements of females of X. platyceps at this site and their reproductive stage; their relative litter mass has been reported as 0.26, and parturition begins in July (Rojas-González et al., 2008), approximately one month before our observation. The opportunistic consumption of vertebrate prey in xenosaurid lizards might offer an energetic advantage to members of this secretive lizard family. Further investigation is necessary to increase information on the diet of these lizards. Additionally, vertebrates need to be considered in studies on prey availability and prey preferences for xenosaurid lizards.

Acknowledgments.––We thank Jaime Zúñiga-Vega, Angela Ortega-León and Norberto Martínez-Méndez for field assistance, and Selene Meza for his valuable English revision. Fieldwork was conducted under permits DOO.02.-6049,ERV06/2001, NUM/DGVS/00305 from DGVS-INE and CEVS-SE-DUE-Tamaulipas.

Literature Cited

Ballinger, R. E., J. A. Lemos-Espinal, S. Sanoja-Sarabia, and Presch, W. 1981. Life History Notes. Xenosaurus grandis. Food. N. R. Coady. 1995. Ecological observations of the lizard, Herpetolological Review 12: 81. Xenosaurus grandis in Cuautlapan,Veracruz, Mexico. Bio- Rodríguez-Robles, J. A. 2002. Feeding ecology of North American tropica 27: 128–132. gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer, Colubridae). Biological García-Vázquez, U. O., A. L. Nolasco-Vélez, and J. G. Zamo- Journal of the Linnean Society 77: 165–183. ra-Abrego. 2009. Natural History Notes. Xenosaurus Rojas-González, R. I., J. J. Zúñiga-Vega, and J. A. Lemos-Espinal, phalaroanthereon, Diet. Herpetological Review 40: 93. 2008. Reproductive variation of the lizard Xenosaurus platy- Lemos-Espinal, J. A., G. R. Smith, and R. E. Ballinger. 2003. ceps: comparing two populations of contrasting environments. Diets of three species of knob-scaled lizards (genus Xeno- Journal of Herpetology 42: 332–336. saurus) from Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 48: 119–122. Zamora-Abrego, J. G., and A. M. Ortega-León. 2016. Ecología Lemos-Espinal, J. A., G. R. Smith, and G. A. Woolrich-Piña. trófica de la lagartija Xenosaurus mendozai (Squamata: Xeno- 2012. The Family Xenosauridae in Mexico. ECO Herpe- sauridae) en el estado de Querétaro, México. Revista Mexi- tological Publishing & Distribution, Rodeo, New Mexico, cana de Biodiversidad 87: 140–149. United States.

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Ramon Isaac Rojas-González1 and Joan Gastón Zamora-Abrego2

1Centro Regional de Investigación Pesquera de Lerma, Instituto Nacional de Pesca, Carretera Campeche – Lerma Km 5, C.P. 24500, Campeche, Campeche. Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 2Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Fauna Silvestre, Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. E-mail: [email protected]

Reptilia: Squamata (snakes)

Adelphicos quadrivirgatum. Reproduction. The Middle American Earth Snake, Adelphicos quadrivirgatum Jan, 1862, occurs in lowland moist forest, premontane wet forest, premontane moist forest, and lower montane moist forest from central Veracruz, Mexico, to northern Nicaragua, on the Atlantic versant, and on the Pacific versant from central Oaxaca, Mexico, to southwestern Honduras, at elevations from near sea level to 1,900 m (LaDuc, 1996; McCranie, 2011; Farr et al., 2013). The available reproductive information on A. quadrivirgatum consists of reports of egg clutches. Four eggs were found “in a nest” in May at San Marcos, Guatemala (Livezey and Peckham, 1953: 175); and a clutch of three eggs was discovered in a termite nest in June, Veracruz, Mexico (Pérez-Higareda and Smith, 1989). Stuart (1948) reported that the congener A. veraepacis deposited eggs in May before the start of the rainy season in the department of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Martin (1955) reported that in another congener, A. q. newmanorum (= A. newmanorum; see Farr et al., 2013), five of seven specimens collected in April in Tamaulipas, Mexico, contained eggs, with the largest female containing four. In this note, I add information on the reproductive cycle of A. quadrivirgatum based on a histological examination of museum specimens. I examined 31 specimens of A. quadrivirgatum (8 males, mean snout–vent length [SVL] = 231.3 mm ± 34.6 SD, range = 197–307 mm; 23 females, SVL = 264 mm ± 28.5 SD, range = 222–318 mm) deposited in the herpetology collection of the Carnegie Museum (CM), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States: GUATEMALA: Departamento de Zapata: CM 57203, 57205, 57207, 57208, 57213, 57215, 57217, 57219, 57221, 57222, 57224, 57229, 57230, 57232, 57235, 57239, 57245, 57249, 57250, 57252– 27256, 57264, 57266, 57267, 57270, 57271; HONDURAS: Departamento de Cortés: CM 68816; and MEXICO: Chiapas: Municipio de Ocosingo: CM 88754. The snakes were collected from 1971 to 1972. I removed the left ovary from females and the left testis and vas deferens from males for histological examination, and embedded the tissues in paraffin, cut into 5 µm sections, mounted on glass slides, and stained with Harris hematoxylin followed by eosin counterstain (Presnell and Schreibman, 1997). I examined the slides to ascertain the stage of the testicular cycle or the presence of yolk deposition. I deposited the histology slides at CM. The testicular histology was similar to that reported by Goldberg and Parker (1975) for the colubrid snakes Masticophis taeniatus and Pituophis catenifer (as P. melanoleucus). The only stage present in the testicular cycle was spermiogenesis, in which the seminiferous tubules were lined by sperm or clusters of metamorphosing sperma- tids. The vasa deferentia contained sperm. The males were collected in the following months: June (1); August (5); and September (2). The smallest reproductively active male (spermiogenesis) measured 197 mm in SVL (LACM 68816), and was collected in June.

Two stages were present in the ovarian cycle: Table 1. Monthly stages in the ovarian cycle of 23 adult (1) quiescent, no yolk deposition; and (2) early yolk females of Adelphicos quadrivirgatum. deposition, basophilic granules in ooplasm (Table 1). The smallest reproductively active female measured Month n Quiescent Yolk Deposition 227 mm in SVL (yolk deposition), and was collected August 12 10 2 in August (CM 57221). September 9 7 2 Previous reports of the occurrence of A. November 2 0 2 quadrivrgatum egg clutches in May and June (Livezey

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1014 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes and Peckham, 1953; Pérez-Higareda and Smith, 1989) indicates reproductive activity in the first six months of the year. My data, however, show A. quadrivirgatum to be reproductively active during August, September, and November, in the second six months of the year. It remains unknown when the vitellogenic females in Table 1 would have produced egg clutches. The above information indicates that an extended reproductive season is present in A. quadrivirgatum. Nonetheless, an examination of specimens of A. quadrivirgatum collected in additional months is necessary before the exact duration of the reproductive cycle can be ascertained.

Acknowledgments.—I thank Jose Padial and Stephen P. Rogers for permission to examine specimens of Adelphicos quadrivirgatum, and for facilitating the loan.

Literature Cited

Farr, W. L., D. Lazcano, and P. A. Lavín Murcio. 2014. Geo- McCranie, J. R. 2011. The Snakes of Honduras, Systematics, graphic Distribution. New distributional records for amphib- Distribution and Conservation. Contributions to Herpetology, ians and reptiles from the state of Tamaulipas, México III. Volume 26, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Review 44: 631–645. Ithaca, New York, United States. Goldberg, S. R., and W. S. Parker. 1975. Seasonal testicular Pérez-Higareda, G., and H. M. Smith. 1989. Termite nest incu- cycle of the colubrid snakes, Masticophis taeniatus and bation of the eggs of the Mexican colubrid snake Adelphicos Pituophis melanolecus. Herpetologica 31: 317–322. quadrivirgatus. Herpetological Review 20: 5–6. LaDuc, T. J. 1996. A Taxonomic Revision of the Adelphicos qua- Presnell, H. K., and M. P. Schreibman. 1997. Humason’s Animal drivirgatum Species Group (Serpentes: Colubridae). Unpub- Tissue Techniques. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Bal- lished M.S. thesis. Department of Biological Sciences, The timore, Maryland, United States. University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States. Staurt, L. C. 1948. The amphibians and reptiles of Alta Verapaz Livezey, R. L., and R. S. Peckham. 1953. Some snakes from San Guatemala. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, Marcos, Guatemala. Herpetologica 8: 175–177. University of Michigan, 69:1–109. Martin, P. S. 1955. Herpetological records from the Gómez Farías region of southwestern Tamaulipas, México. Copeia 1955: 173–180.

Stephen R. Goldberg

Whittier College, Department of Biology, Whittier, California 90608, United States. E-mail: [email protected]

Boa sigma (Smith, 1943). Diet. Card et al. (2016) identified extensive population structure across the range of the genus Boa, with three widely distributed clades in North-, Central-, and South America, and recognized a third species in the genus, with Boa sigma (Smith, 1943) corresponding to the North American clade. Although Card et al, (2016: 109) noted the distribution of this taxon along “the Pacific coast of Mexico to west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,” their study did not include samples from the Tres Marías Islands (= Las Islas Marías) from where the holotype and paratypes were collected. Woolrich-Piña et al. (2016) tentatively accepted the conclusions of Card et al. (2016). The diet of B. imperator, a congener with a distribution primarily in Mesoamerica, has been documented relatively well (Greene, 1983; Boback et al., 2000; Bakkegard and Timm 2001; Greene et al., 2003; Leenders and Watkins-Colwell, 2003; Bobak, 2004, 2005; Solórzano, 2004; Pérez-Higareda et al., 2007; Reed and Rodda, 2009; Pavón-Vázquez et al., 2016). Although some regional works have reported on the varied diet of B. constrictor (sensu lato) (e.g., García and Ceballos, 1994; Lemos-Espinal et al., 2013; Rorabaugh and Lemos-Espinal, 2016), to our knowledge information on the diet of B. sigma is limited to an account of an individual from Las Islas Marías in which “the digestive tract of one Boa was crammed with plant material, evidently from a Ctenosaura the snake had eaten” (Zweifel, 1960: 99). Herein, we report an additional food item for this species. On 1 September 2013 at ca. 0917 h, at ejido el Cora, Municipio de San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico (21.433988°N, 105.135329°W, WGS 84; elev. 230 m), we observed an adult B. sigma in an area of tropical dry forest planted with

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1015 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes teak trees (Tectona grandis) consuming a young Collie’s Squirrel (Sciurus colliaei). The squirrel had ascended one of the teak trees to a height of ca. 7 m, where it was preyed upon by the snake. The event lasted about 17 min, from the time of capture until the squirrel was swallowed. The B. sigma then descended and sought shelter in a burrow among some rocks. The S. colliaei might have been distracted by our presence, as we had stopped to photograph the animal and the squirrel perhaps did not see the snake.

Fig 1. A Boa sigma found at ejido el Cora, Municipio de San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, consuming a young Collie’s Squirrel (Sciurus colliaei). ' © Sandino González

Acknowledgments.––We thank Sandino González, especially for his interest in nature photography, as well as for field assistance and some of the information included in this note.

Literature Cited

Bakkegard and Timm. 2001. Natural History Notes. Boa con- Card D. C., D. R. Schield, R. H. Adams, A. B. Corbin, B. W. Perry, strictor (Boa Constrictor). Diet. Herpetological Review 32: A. L. Andrew, G. M. Pasquesi, E. N. Smith, T. Jezkova, S. M. 261–262 Boback, W. Booth, and T. A. Castoe. 2016. Phylogeographic Boback, S. M., E. Burroughs, C. Ugarte, and J. Watling. 2000. and population genetic analyses reveal multiple species of Natural History Notes. Boa constrictor (Boa Constrictor). Boa and independent origins of insular dwarfism. Molecular Diet. Herpetological Review 31: 244–245. Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 104–116. Boback, S. M. 2004. Natural History Notes. Boa constrictor (Boa García, A., and G. Ceballos. 1994. Guía de Campo de los Rep- Constrictor). Diet. Herpetological Review 35: 175. tiles y Anfibios de la costa de Jalisco, México / Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of the Jalisco Coast. Fundación Boback, S. M. 2005. Natural history and conservation of island Ecológica de Cuixmala, A.C. Instituto de Bilogía, U.N.A.M., boas (Boa constrictor) in Belize. Copeia 879–884. México, D.F., Mexico.

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Greene. H. W. 1983. Boa constrictor (Boa, Béquer, Boa Constric- and the Boa Constrictor. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File tor). Pp. 380–383 In D. H. Janzen (Ed.), Costa Rica Natural Report 2009–1202, Reston, Virginia, United States. (www. History, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago Illinois, pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1202/pdf/OF09-1202.pdf). United States. Rorabaugh, J. C., and J. A. Lemos-Espinal. 2016. A Field Guide to Greene, M. P., S. M. Boback, and C. Guyer. 2003. Natural Histo- the Amphibians and Reptiles of Sonora, Mexico. ECO Herpe- ry Notes. Boa constrictor (Boa Constrictor). Diet. Herpeto- tological Publishing and Distribution, Rodeo, New Mexico, logical Review 34:146. United States. Leenders, T. A. A. M., and G. J., Watkins-Colwell. 2003. Nat- Smith, H. M. 1943. Summary of the collections of snakes and ural History Notes. Boa constrictor (Boa Constrictor). Diet. crocodilians made in Mexico under the Walter Rathbone Herpetological Review. 34: 146. Bacon Traveling Scolarship. Proceedings of the United States Lemos-Espinal, J., H. M. Smith, and A. Cruz. 2013. Amphibians National Museum 93: 393–504. & Reptiles of the Sierra Tarahumara of Chihuahua, Mexico Solórzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica: Distribución, / Anfibios y Reptiles de la Sierra Tarahumara de Chihuahua, Taxonomía e Historia Natural / Snakes of Costa Rica: Dis- México. ECO Herpetological Publishing & Distribution, tribution, Taxonomy, and Natural History. Instituto Nacional Rodeo, New Mexico, United States. de Biodiversidad (INBio), Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Pavón-Vázquez C. J., L. N. Gray, B. A. White, and A. S. Harri- Rica. son. 2016. Nature Notes. Boa imperator Daudin, 1803. Diet. Woolrich-Piña, G. A., P. Ponce-Campos, J. Loc-Barragán, J. P. Mesoamerican Herpetology. 3: 490–492. Ramírez-Silva, V. Mata-Silva, J. D. Johnson, E. García-Pa- Pérez-Higareda, G., M. A. López-Luna, and H. M. Smith. 2007. dilla, and L. D. Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Serpientes de la Región de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México. Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Guía de Identificación Ilustrada. Universidad Nacional Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 376–448. Autónoma de México, México D.F., Mexico. Zweifel, R. G. 1960. Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Reed, R. N., and G. H. Rodda. 2009. Giant Constrictors: Bio- Natural History expedition to western Mexico. 9. Herpetology logical and Management Profiles and an Establishment Risk of the Tres Marías Islands. Bulletin of the American Museum Assessment for Nine Large Species of Pythons, Anacondas, of Natural History: 119: 77–128.

Jesús A. Loc-Barragán1,2, Juan Pablo Ramírez-Silva2, and Guillermo A. Woolrich-Piña2,3

1Grupo Ecologista Acaponeta A.C. Jalisco 50 Col. Centro, C.P. 63430, Acaponeta, Nayarit, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (JALB, Corresponding author) 2Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Unidad Académica de Agricultura, Programa Académico de Biología. Km. 9 Carretera Tepic-Compostela, Xalisco, C.P. 63780, Nayarit, Mexico. 3Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Zacapoaxtla, Subdirección de Investigación y Posgrado, Laboratorio de Zoología, División de Biología, Carretera Acuaco-Zacapoaxtla Km. 8, Col. Totoltepec, Zacapoaxtla, C. P. 73680, Puebla, Mexico.

Bothrops asper (Garman, 1883). Predation. Bothrops asper is a large pitviper found mostly in tropical lowland wet and moist forest, premontane rainforest, and evergreen seasonal forest, and less frequently in drier regions. This species occurs at low and moderate elevations (sea level to 1,300 m in Mexico) and ranges from south-central Tamaulipas, Mexico, throughout much of the Atlantic versant to northeastern Venezuela, and on the Pacific versant in an isolated population in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala, and from northwestern Costa Rica southward to the Ecuador–Peru border (Campbell and Lamar, 2004, Heimes, 2016). Although substantial information is available on the natural history of this species, little is known about its natural predators (Bogert, 1954; Buttenhoff and Vogt, 1995; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Dehling, 2008; Heimes, 2016). Herein, we report a predation event on B. asper by a tarantula in the Eastern Highlands physiographic region of Chiapas, Mexico (Johnson et al., 2010).

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On 3 November 2016 at 1440 h, after a heavy rain, one of us (SLG) observed a neonate B. asper being eaten by a Guatemalan Redrump Tarantula (Brachypelma sabulosum) (Fig. 1) at Edificio 19 (known as “El Laberinto”) in the Zona Arqueológica de Yaxchilán, Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico (16°53'56.11"N, 90°57'57.38"W; WGS 84), elev. ca 122 m. The event took place ca. 2 m above the ground on a wall in the basement of the archeological ruin. At the time of the observation, the tarantula was ingesting and holding the snake by the head, as the snake was showing muscle contractions. When the spider noticed the presence of SLG, it released the snake and moved backwards to- ward its burrow. After a few seconds, however, it began to approach the snake and grabbed its body, closer to the an- terior end. SLG photographed the event and continued his observations for an additional 5 min, and left the site with tarantula and snake in the same position. To date, reported predators of B. asper include a land crab, Gecarcinus quadratus (Dehling, 2008), a larger juvenile female B. asper (Buttenhoff and Vogt, 1995), a Mussurana, Clelia clelia (Bogert, 1954), a Hog-nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus (Bogert, 1954), and a Nine-banded Armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus (Bogert, 1954). To the best of our knowledge this is the first published report of a prey-predator interaction between B. asper and B. sabulosum, respectively. Zona Arqueológica de Yaxchilán is a Natural Protected Area founded in 1992, and located next to the Río Usumacinta in eastern Chiapas. The vegetation at the site is characterized by tropical rain forest (Johnson et al., 2010).

Fig. 1. A Guatemalan Redrump Tarantula (Brachypelma sabulosum) preying on a neonate Nauyaca (Bothrops asper) at Monu- mento Natural Yaxchilán, Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico. ' © Silvano López-Gómez

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks to the Siyaj Chan environmental tourism group (Turismo Bioarqueológico) and to Silvano López-Gómez’s family for their support and company.

Literature Cited

Bogert, C. M. 1954. Amphibians and reptiles of the world. Pp. Dehling, J. M. 2008. Natural History Notes. Bothrops asper (Ter- 1,189–1,390 In F. Drimmer (Ed.), The Animal Kingdom, ciopelo). Predation. Herpetological Review 39: 230. Volume 2, Book 3. Greystone Press, New York, United Heimes, P. 2016. Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. 1. Snakes of Mexico. States. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Buttenhoff, P. A., and R. C. Vogt. 1995. Natural History Notes. Johnson, J. D., V. Mata-Silva, and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2010. Bothrops asper (Nauyaca). Cannibalism. Herpetological Geographic Distribution and Conservation of the herpetofau- Review 26: 146–147. na of southeastern Mexico. Pp. 322–369 In L. D. Wilson, H. Campbell, J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Meso- of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- american Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publish- ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, ing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. United States.

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Silvano López-Gomez1, Jorge Iván Mendoza-Marroquín2, Elí García-Padilla3, Vicente Mata- Silva4, Dominic L. DeSantis4, Jerry D. Johnson4, and Larry David Wilson5

1Frontera Corozal, C. P. 20950, Ocosingo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Colección Nacional de Arácnidos, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 3er circuito exterior s/n, Apto. Postal 70-153, Coyoacán, C. P. 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico. 3Oaxaca de Juárez, C. P. 04700, Oaxaca, Mexico. Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 4Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] 5Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departmento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras; 16010 SW 207th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33187-1056, United States. E-mail: [email protected]

Crotalus ravus (Cope, 1865). Predation. The Mexican Pygmy Rattlesnake, Crotalus ravus, is distributed across the Trans- Mexican Volcanic Belt in the states of Veracruz, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Oaxaca, Guerrero, México, Morelos, and the Distrito Federal (Uribe-Peña et al., 1999; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Fernández-Badillo et al., 2011). This species occurs in xeric shrubland, cloud forest, boreal forest, tropical deciduous forest, and pine-oak forest, and is most abundant in relatively flat areas such as plateaus, floodplains, and alluvial fans or basins, at elevations from 1,490 to 3,000 m (Uribe-Peña et al., 1999; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; CONANP, 2014). Crotalus ravus is terrestrial and usually diurnal, but can be found at night (Armstrong and Murphy, 1979; Campbell and Lamar, 2004), and has been reported to feed on insects, lizards, snakes, and small mammals (Díaz de la Vega-Pérez et al., 2016, and references therein). On 22 January 2016 at 1105 h, an individual of C. ravus was observed attempting to eat a fledgling American Brown Creeper (Certhia americana; Fig. 1) in pine forest at Parque Nacional La Malinche (19°14'33.1"N, 97°58'30.6"W; datum WGS 84), at an elevation of 2,988 m; the park is located in the states of Tlaxcala and Puebla. At the time of the encounter the bird was moving its wings, but a few seconds later it died, with the C. ravus in close proximity. While examing the body, we noticed two small holes on the breast/abdominal area of the bird, suggesting it was bitten by the rattlesnake. The snake was not collected. This episode occured next to a pine tree in a grassland dominated by Festuca tolucensis Fig. 1. A fledgling American Brown Creeper and Muhlenbergia macroura, where several nests of C. americana (Certhia americana) lying on the ground after were present among the grasses. This encounter highlights the an apparent predatory attempt by Crotalus oportunistic nature of C. ravus, and to our knowledge is the first ravus at Parque Nacional La Malinche, Mexico. ' © Mario García-Guerrero report of an apparent predatory attempt by this species on a bird.

Acknowledgments.––We thank Dr. Patricia Ramirez-Bastida for helping identify the bird species, and Dr. Aníbal Diaz de la Vega and Mario García Guerrero for field assistance and photographs. We also want to thank

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Dr. M. Martínez-Gómez and Dr. J. Vázquez-Pérez for their valuable help with logistics and use of the facilities at the scientific station “La Malinche.” This work was conducted with financial support of project PAPIIT IA204416 UNAM, and under scientific permit number SGPA/DGVS/02145/16 issued by the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT).

Literature Cited

Armstrong, B. L., and J. B. Murphy. 1979. The Natural History Díaz de la Vega-Pérez, A. H., D Laguna-Millán, R. Cervantes- of Mexican Rattlesnakes. The University of Kansas, Muse- Badillo, J. E. Gómez-Campos, and S. Ancona. 2016. Nature um of Natural History, Special Publication No. 5, Lawrence, Notes. Crotalus ravus. Diet. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: Kansas, United States. 742–743. Campbell, J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. Venomous Reptiles of Fernández-Badillo, F. N. Morales-Capellán, and I. Goyenechea- the Western Hemishphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publishing Mayer Goyenechea. 2011. Serpientes Venenosas del Estado Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, de Hidalgo. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, United States. Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. CONANP, 2014. Identification file Crotalus ravus. Parque Nacio- Uribe-Peña, Z., A. Ramírez-Bautista, and G. Casas Andreu. 1999. nal Izta-Popo Zoquiapan. Dirección del Parque Nacional Anfibios y reptiles de las serranias del Del Distrito Federal, Iztaccíhuatl Popocatépetl, Subdirección de Cultura para la México. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autóno- Conservación, Departamento de Investigación y Monitoreo, ma de México. Cuadernos 32: 1–119. Ciudad de México, Mexico.

Luis Eduardo Bucio-Jiménez1 and Hibraim Adán Pérez-Mendoza1

1Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva de Anfibios y Reptiles. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (LEBJ, Corresponding author)

Micrurus browni Schmidt and Schmidt, 1943. Diet. Brown’s Coralsnake, Micrurus browni, is a medium sized species with a relatively limited geographic distribution in Mexico and Guatemala. In Mexico it has been reported in the states of Michoacán, Estado de México (including Ciudad de México), along the the Pacific coast of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas, as well as in the western mountains of Guatemala (Roze, 1996; Campbell and Lamar, 2004, and citations there in; Reyes-Velasco et al., 2012). The elevational range for M. browni has been reported from near sea level to 2,200 m (Roze, 1996; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Wilson and Johnson, 2010). Unfortunately, little information is available on its natural history of this species, including its diet. On 23 June 2016 at 2200 h, two of us (VMS and AR) found a freshly killed adult M. browni on the road to Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca (131), 5.8 km E (straight line) of San Juan Lachao, Municipio de San Juan Lachao, Oaxaca, Mexico (16.153878°N, -97.069861°W; WGS 84; elev. 958 m). The snake (snout–vent length [SVL] = 730 mm; tail length [T] = 90 mm; and total length = 820 mm) was nearly finished ingesting an adult male Coniophanes fissidens (SVL = 284 mm; T = 20 mm [most of the tail missing, likely detached by a passing vehicle]) when it was killed (Fig. 1). The coralsnake had ingested most of the body of the C. fissidens except for the tail. We were unable to determine if the M. browni found the C. fissidens alive or dead on the road. Both specimens (CIB 5032, CIB 5033, M. browni and C. fissidens, respectively) are deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. To date, M. browni has been reported to feed only on snakes, including Indotyphlops braminus, Epictia bakewelli, Geophis sallei, Ninia sebae, Tantilla rubra, Adelphicos quadrivirgatus, and Stenorrhina freminvillei (Roze, 1996; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Bello-Sánchez et al., 2016). To the best of our knowledge this observation represents the first report of C. fissidens in the diet of M. browni.

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Fig. 1. An adult female Brown’s Coralsnake (Micrurus browni) killed while ingesting a male Yellow-bellied Snake (Coniophanes fissidens) in Municipio de San Juan Lachao, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

Acknowledgments.––We are grateful to Eduardo Mata-Silva for his invaluable assistance in the field, to the Bolán-Mata family for their great hospitality, and to Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, Christian Berriozabal-Islas, and José Daniel Lara-Tufiño for logistical support. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to ARB with extensions to VMS, AR, EGP, DLD, and LDW. Irene G. Mayer-Goyenechea kindly provided the voucher number.

Literature Cited

Bello-Sánchez E. A., J. E. Morales-Mávil, A. González-Chris- records for the herpetofauna of Mexico. Herpetological ten, and A. M. Cruz-Lira. 2016. Natural History Notes. Review 43: 451–453. Micrurus browni (Brown’s Coralsnake) and Stenorrhina Roze, J. A. 1996. Coral Snakes of the Americas: Biology, Identifi- freminvillei (Freminville’s Scorpion-eating Snake). Herpe- cation, and Venoms. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, tological Review 47: 149. Florida, United States. Campbell, J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles Wilson, L. D., and J. D. Johnson. 2010. Distributional patterns of of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a biodiversity hotspot. Pp. ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 32–235 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson United States. (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Rep- Reyes-Velasco, J., C. I. Grünwald, J. M. Jones, M. S. Price, and J. tiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, T. Fisher. 2012. Geographic Distribution. New distributional United States.

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Vicente Mata-Silva1, Arturo Rocha1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Larry David Wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

1Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] (VMS, Corresponding author) 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. 3Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departmento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras; 16010 SW 207th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33187-1056, United States. 4Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Colonia Carboneras, C. P. 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico.

Predation of Stenorrhina freminvillei (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) by Erythrolamprus bizona Jan, 1863

Snakes of genus Stenorrhina (Colubridae) are semi-fossorial diurnal snakes with a distribution extending from southern Mexico to Venezuela and Ecuador (Savage, 2002; Solórzano, 2004). These snakes primarily prey on scorpions and tarantulas, but occasionally also on other arthropods (Savage, 2002; Solórzano, 2004). The Northern Scorpion-eater (S. freminvillei) is a relatively uncommon species that in Costa Rica is found in the northwestern and central parts of the country (Solórzano, 2004; Abarca Alvarado, 2012; McConnell, 2014). Predation reports on this species rarely are documented, perhaps because of its secretive behavior, much as occurs with other fossorial or semi-fossorial herpetofauna (Ramírez-Fernández and Solís DelValle, 2014; Acosta-Chaves and Villalobos-Chaves, 2015). Based on an examination of museum material, Savage (2002) reported finding an individual of this species in the stomach contents of a Central American Coralsnake (Micrurus nigrocinctus, Elapidae). Here we report a predation event on S. freminvillei by a Black-ringed False Coralsnake (Erythrolamprus bizona, Dipsadidae) in the Pacific central of Costa Rica. On 18 October 2016 at approximately 1425 h, an E. bizona was found subduing an S. freminvillei along a muddy road in Zona Protectora El Rodeo, Cantón de Mora, Provincia de San José, Costa Rica (9.926815°N, 84.292284°W; datum WGS 84; elev. 630 m). The E. bizona was restraining the body of the S. freminvillei, with a wound visible next to where the E. bizona was holding on, suggesting that the S. freminvillei already had been bitten (Fig. 1a). The event was observed for ca. 5 min, and during this time the S. freminvillei curled its body repeatedly, as the E. bizona held on (Fig. 1B); eventually, the S. freminvillei reduced its movements. The entire swallowing process was not observed by the eyewitness to avoid interrupting the process, as well as because of a strong, sudden rain (M. González, pers. observ.). Erythrolamprus bizona feeds primarily on other snakes, and occasionally on lizards (Savage, 2002; Solórzano, 2004). Reported prey items for this species include the snakes Hydromorphus sp. and Tantilla sp. (Savage, 2002). Despite the fact that the S. freminvillei tolerates its favorite prey’s (scorpions) venom to some degree (Solórzano and Greene, 2012), the venom of E. bizona appeared to have a significant effect on the individual because of its toxic properties (Lemoine and Rodríguez-Acosta, 2003). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that records predatory interaction between these species.

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Fig. 1. (A) An Erythrolamprus bizona firmly holding a Stenorrhina freminvillei by the body, and (B) as a response the S. freminvillei curls its body in an attempt to lose its predator. ' © Maureen González

Acknowledgments.––I thank Maureen González for unselfishly sharing her photos and a detailed account of the observation, and Ignacio Acosta and Víctor Acosta Chaves for corroborating with the identification of the snakes. Víctor Acosta Chaves also provided comments that improved the manuscript.

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Literature Cited

Abarca Alvarado, J. G. La herpetofauna de un bosque premon- Ramírez-Fernández, J. D., and M. Solís-DelValle. 2014. Natural tano: diversidad de anfibios y reptiles de El Rodeo. Brenesia History Notes. Rhinophrynus dorsalis (Mexican Burrowing 77: 251–270. Toad). Predation. Herpetological Review 45: 480–481. Acosta-Chaves, V., and D. Villalobos-Chaves. 2015. Tantilla Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: armillata. Predation by a Central American Bark Scorpion A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. (Centruroides edwardsii). Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United 202–203. States. Lemoine, K., and A. Rodríguez-Acosta. 2003. Haemorrhagic, Solórzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica: Distribución, Taxo- proteolytic and neurotoxic activities produced by Duver- nomía e Historia Natural / Snakes of Costa Rica: Distribution, noy’s gland secretion from the False Coral Snake (Erythrol- Taxonomy, and Natural History. Instituto Nacional de Biodi- amprus bizona Jan 1863) (Serpentes: Colubridae). Revista versidad (INBio), Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica. Científica FCV-LUZ 13: 371–377. Solórzano, A., and H. W. Greene. 2012. Predation in nature by a McConnell, G. J. 2014. A Field Guide to the Snakes of Costa scorpion-hunter, Stenorrhina freminvillei (Serpentes, Colubri- Rica. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. dae). Cuadernos de Investigación UNED 4: 31–32.

José D. Ramírez-Fernández

Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Sede Rodrigo Facio, San Pedro, Costa Rica. E-mail: [email protected]

Thamnophis rossmani Conant, 2000. Reproduction. Rossman’s Gartersnake (Thamnophis rossmani) was described in 2000 by Roger Conant based on series of specimens he collected from 1949 to 1965, and others collected by Douglas Rossman in 1969 in Nayarit, western Mexico. Both series of specimens were found in a very small area––the pools, ditches, and irrigation canals near Río San Cayetano a small stream that flows northwest from Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit. In his description, Conant (2000: 5) mentioned, “available evidence indicates that Thamnophis rossmani may be in grave danger, if not already extinct.” Several years later, Luja and Grünwald (2015) reported the finding two other T. rossmani in the same area reported years earlier by Rossman and Conant. As part of a project to monitor populations of T. rossmani, on 20 September 2016 at 1700 h, on the El Pantanal–El Armadillo road, Municipio de Tepic, Mexico (21.443122°, -104.844728°W; WGS 84; elev. 923 m), JALS and OAH found an adult female T. rossmani (snout–vent length [SVL] = 46 mm; total length [TL] = 13mm; and body mass = 45g) in a wetland area used as a garbage dump (Fig. 1). The snake was maintained in captivity, and on 26 September 2016 gave birth to four fully formed offspring (Fig. 2). The mean SVL of the four neonates was 48.5 ± 2.36 (45–50 mm), the mean TL was 14.3 ± 1.65 (11.9–15.5 mm), and the mean body mass was 1.5 ± 0.37 (1.1–2 g). Thamnophis rossmani is the only reptile species endemic to Nayarit and is one of the state’s most endangered species (Woolrich-Piña et al., 2016); little information is available on its natural history. To our knowledge this is the first report on the reproduction of T. rossmani.

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Fig. 1. A Thamnophis rossmani from the El Pantanal–El Armadillo road, Municipio de Tepic, Mexico. ' © Víctor H. Luja

Fig. 2. The female Thamnophis rossmani soon after giving birth to four fully formed offspring. '© Víctor H. Luja

Acknowledgments.––The specimen was collected under scientific permit number SGPA/DGVS/01890/16 issued by the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT).

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1025 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes

Literature Cited

Conant, R. 2000. A new species of garter snake from western Woolrich-Piña, G. A., P. P Campos, J. Loc-Barragán, J. P. Mexico. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Sci- Ramírez-Silva, V. Mata-Silva, J. D. Johnson, E. García-Pa- ence, Louisiana State University 76: 1–8. dilla, and L. D. Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nayarit, Luja, V. H., and C. I. Grünwald. 2015. New Distributional Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Meso- Records of Amphibians and Reptiles from Nayarit, México. american Herpetology 3: 376–448. Herpetological Review 46: 223–225.

Víctor H. Luja1, Jesús Alberto López-Solís2, and Omar Alexis Hernández López2

1Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Unidad Académica de Turismo, Coordinación y Posgrado, Ciudad de la Cultura Amado Nervo s/n, C.P. 63155 Tepic, Nayarit, México. E-mail: [email protected] 2Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Unidad Académica de Agricultura, Programa Académico de Biología. Km. 9 Carretera Tepic-Compostela, C.P. 63780, Xalisco, Nayarit, Mexico.

Reptilia: Testudines Preliminary notes on caudal prehensility in the Hicatee, Dermatemys mawii (Testudines: Dermatemydidae)

Dermatemys mawii is a Critically Endangered freshwater turtle that inhabits rivers, lagoons, and oxbow lakes in southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize (Vogt et al., 2016). As a fully-aquatic, non-basking, and frequently nocturnal species that is capable of remaining submerged for extended periods due to its ability to uptake oxygen underwater through buccopharyngeal respiration (Winokur, 1988; Vogt et al., 2011), this species can be difficult to observe in nature (Davy and Fenton, 2013). Aside from descriptions of its foraging behavior (Moll, 1989), little information is available on its behavioral repertoire. As the only extant member of the family Dermatemydidae, whose divergence from its closest living relatives, the kinosternids, dates back more than 72 million years (Knauss et al., 2011), D. mawii may possess unique or unusual behavioral attributes that are not represented in other extant chelonians. Although uncommon in zoological collections (Smith, 2015; Mendyk and Smith, 2016), captive specimens of D. mawii maintained in zoological parks offer valuable opportunities for studying aspects of the species’ behavior that otherwise would be difficult to observe in the field. Captive Observations The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens presently maintains an adult trio of Dermatemys mawii, comprised of a 40+ year-old male and two 20+ year-old females (Mendyk and Smith, 2016). The group is maintained together in a ca. 151,000-L pool located inside a walk-through aviary, with a maximum water depth of ca.160 cm. Heat exchangers maintain the pool’s water temperature between 25.5 and 27.7°C, and filtration is accomplished through a combination of high pressure sand filters and a slipstream ozone system. In addition to aquatic and wading birds that regularly utilize the pool, several other Neotropical chelonians, including Trachemys venusta, Chelus fimbriatus, and Mesoclemmys gibba are housed together with the D. mawii, as well as several large Pirapatinga (Piaractus

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1026 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes brachypomus) and suckermouth catfish (Pterygoplichthys spp.). Several submerged logs and branches resting at the bottom of the pool provide cover for some of the turtle species. The staff adds weekly cuttings of mulberry branches (Moras spp.) to the pool; the leaves are consumed by many of the pool’s inhabitants, including D. mawii, and also provide additional refuge. All of the behavioral observations described below occurred between 0730 and 1800 h. Historically, a single female D. mawii (JZG #403307) had been maintained in the exhibit pool since October of 2004. In October of 2015, a male (JZG #415327) was acquired from another zoo and introduced to the exhibit with the original female, after a 30-day quarantine period. The male showed immediate interest in the female, approaching her from behind when resting on the bottom of the pool and investigating her cloacal region and rear limbs with his nares, in what appeared to be heavily-focused olfactory behavior similar to what has been described in Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima (Hidalgo, 1982). Over the next two months, the male showed continued interest in the female, following her around the pool, investigating her cloaca and rear limbs, and occasionally biting at the supracaudal scutes of her carapace, leading to two noticeably degraded depressions in the shell. Most observed interactions between these individuals occurred while both animals were walking along the bottom of the pool, and in most cases the male approached or trailed the female from behind. If and when detected by the female, the male would turn around and quickly retreat, even though no aggressive or defensive movements or displays were made by the female. Occasionally, the male would approach the female head-on, usually stopping at a distance of around 1 m or more, but maintained eye contact with the female; in some cases, such staring behavior was observed while the male was floating in the water column. Some unusual courtship behaviors were observed between this pair on several occasions, particularly tandemized swimming, in which the male swims directly underneath the female and mirrors the female’s swimming movements at top speeds around the exhibit pool. Although copulation was not observed between this pair, a clutch of 12 eggs was deposited by the female on 25 March 2016, with an additional egg laid in the pool a few days later. On one occasion on 16 February 2016 at around 1100 h, the male was observed slowly approaching the female head-on along the bottom of the pool. At a distance of around 0.6 m and in full visual contact with the female, the male halted his approach and floated his body upward at an inclination of ca. 45 degrees, with all four limbs outstretched to the sides. The male remained motionless and maintained eye contact with the female, maintaining his suspended positioning in the water column through the use of his tail, which partially was wrapped around a submerged tree limb ca. 10 cm in diameter. After ca. 20 s of motionless visual contact with the female in this position, the male released his grip from the limb, turned back, and quickly swam away from the female. After noticing this peculiar usage of the tail, further observations were made of the male using his tail to gently grip onto submerged tree limbs as he passed over them. When walking along the bottom of the pool, the tail often is angled downward so that it catches, or comes into contact with, submerged tree limbs as he passes over them, and occasionally gripping onto them. This behavior appears to contrast that described in other long-tailed aquatic turtles, such as Chelydra serpentina, in which the tail is extended outward as a counterbalance to the head while traveling along the bottom of a pool (Willey and Blob, 2004). Caudal prehensility has not been observed in either female D. mawii at JZG, and due to the substantially shorter tails of female D. mawii (Campbell, 1972; Fig. 1), we doubt whether females of this species are capable of physically using the tail in this capacity. Discussion These observations provide the first description of caudal prehensility in Dermatemys mawii. Caudal prehensility has been documented in several other chelonians, although tail usage varies widely between taxa. For example, Platysternon megacephalum and Chelydra serpentina have been reported to use their muscular, prehensile tails to assist with righting themselves when flipped over (Ashe, 1970; Finkler and Claussen, 1997). In sea turtles, prehensile tails are used in intraspecific signaling (Schofield et al., 2007) and to block rival males from gaining access to a female during copulation (Booth and Peters, 1972). In other species, males utilize a prehensile tail in forced insemination (Berry and Shine, 1980). The present account of caudal prehensility in D. mawii appears to be the first documented example of a turtle using its tail to grasp onto physical elements of its environment, although Brode (1958) speculated such “fifth limb” usage in nature for C. serpentina and Macrochelys temminckii. Since female D. mawii do not possess large tails that would be capable of grasping objects in their environment, and younger males do not develop longer, thicker tails until maturity (RWM, pers. observ.; J. Marlin, pers. comm.), the primary function of caudal prehensility in D. mawii unlikely is for grasping onto submerged objects

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1027 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Nature Notes within their environment or it would be expected to occur in both sexes. Instead, caudal prehensility likely serves some role in courtship and/or copulation. Dermatemys mawii does share common ancestry with the kinosternids, of which males of several genera including Sternotherus, Kinosternon, and Staurotypus have been reported to use their tails in forced insemination (Berry and Shine, 1980). Attempted copulation was observed at JZG on one occasion between the male and a second female (JZG# 416300), shortly after her introduction to the exhibit in April of 2016. Smaller in overall size than the female, the male appeared to use its strong, muscular tail to forcibly access the female’s tail for copulation, although actual intromission could not be observed. The female did not appear to be receptive to the male’s advances, and retreated shortly thereafter. No further copulation attempts were observed, and as of September 2016, no eggs have been produced by this female. Further observations on captive D. mawii at JZG might shed additional light on the potential role and impor- tance of caudal prehensility in courtship and copulation in this species, as well as other aspects of its behavioral repertoire.

Fig. 1. Tail length comparison between an adult male (left) and female (right) Dermatemys mawii at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. ' © Robert W. Mendyk

Acknowledgments.––We thank the Smithsonian Institution Libraries for providing useful literature, Jason Bell, Robert Hill, Brad Lock, and Dustin Smith for their assistance with consolidating captive Dermatemys in AZA zoos; Dustin Smith, Jacob Marlin, Rick Hudson, Thomas Rainwater and Dick Vogt for useful discussions on Dermatemys ecology, reproduction and behavior; and the herpetology department of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens for their assistance and support.

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Literature Cited

Ashe, V. M. 1970. The righting reflex in turtles: a description and Moll, D. 1989. Food and feeding behavior of the turtle, Dermate- comparison. Psychonomic Science 20: 150–152. mys mawei, in Belize. Journal of Herpetology 23: 445–447. Berry, J. F., and R. Shine. 1980. Sexual size dimorphism and Schofield, G., K. A. Katselidis, J. D. Pantis, P. Dimopoulos, and sexual selection in turtles (Order Testudines). Oecologia 44: G. C. Hays. 2007. Female-female aggression: structure of 185–191. interaction and outcome in Loggerhead Sea Turtles. Marine Booth, J., and J. A. Peters. 1972. Behavioural studies on the Ecology Progress Series 336: 267–274. Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the sea. Animal Behaviour Smith, D. 2015. Central American River Turtle Dermatemys mawii. 20: 808–812. North American Regional Studbook 2015. North Carolina Brode, W. E. 1958. Prehensility of the tails of two turtles (family Zoo, Asheboro, North Carolina, United States. 16 pp. Chelydridae). Copeia, 1958: 48–48. Vogt, R. C., J. R. Polisar, D. Moll, and G. Gonzalez-Porter. Campbell, J. 1972. Observations on Central American River 2011. Dermatemys mawii Gray 1847 – Central American Turtles at Fort Worth Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 12: River Turtle, Tortuge Blanca, Hickatee. Pp. 058.1–058.12 202–204. In Rhodin, A. G. J., P. C. H. Pritchard, P. P. van Dijk, R. A. Saumure, K. A. Buhlmann, J. B. Iverson, and R. A. Mitter- Davy, C. M., and M. B. Fenton. 2013. Technical note: side-scan meier (Eds.), Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and sonar enables rapid detection of aquatic reptiles in turbid Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise lotic systems. European Journal of Wildlife Research 59: and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research 123–127. Monographs 5. Chelonian Research Foundation, Lunenburg, Finkler, M. S., and D. L. Claussen. 1997. Use of the tail in ter- Maryland, United States. restrial locomotor activities of juvenile Chelydra serpentina. Vogt, R. C., G. P. Gonzalez-Porter, and P. P. van Dijk. 2016. Der- Copeia 1997: 884–887. matemys mawii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Hidalgo, H. 1982. Courtship and mating behavior in Rhinoclem- 2016: 3.T6493A97409830. (www.iucnredlist.org; accessed 1 mys pulcherrima incisa (Testudines: Emydidae: Bataguri- August 2016). nae). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Sciences 85: Willey, J. S., and R. W. Blob. 2004. Tail kinematics of juvenile 82–95. common snapping turtles during aquatic walking. Journal of Knauss, G. E., W. G. Joyce, T. R. Lyson, and D. Pearson. 2011. Herpetology 38: 360–369. A new kinosternoid from the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Winokur, R. M. 1988. The buccopharyngeal mucosa of the turtles Formation of North Dakota and Montana and the origin of (Testudines). Journal of Morphology 196: 33–52. the Dermatemys mawii lineage. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 85: 125–142. Mendyk, R. W., and D. C. Smith. 2016. Nature Notes. Dermate- mys mawii Gray, 1847. Longevity. Mesoamerican Herpetol- ogy 3: 477–478.

Robert W. Mendyk1,2 and Brian R. Eisele1

1Department of Herpetology, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, 370 Zoo Parkway, Jacksonville, Florida 32218, United States. E.mail: [email protected] (RWM, Corresponding author) 2Department of Herpetology, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008, United States.

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Reptilia: Testudines

Trachemys gaigeae (Hartweg, 1939). Behavior. The Big Bend Slider occurs in the Río Conchos, Río Grande, and Río Nazas river systems of the southwestern United States and northeastern Mexico (Stuart and Ernst, 2004). This turtle species has received little scientific attention relative to other freshwater emydids in the United States, in part because historically it was classified as a subspecies of T. scripta (Gibbons, 1990; Stuart and Ernst, 2004; Ernst and Lovich, 2009). Sexual dimorphism in T. gaigeae is similar to its United States congener T. scripta in that males generally are smaller than females in carapace length, but differs in that males of T. gaigeae lack the elongated foreclaws used during courtship by males of T. scripta (Stuart and Ward, 2009). Accordingly, male courtship in T. gaigeae is considered to be more similar to Mesoamerican species of Trachemys than to T. scripta (Degenhardt et al., 1996; Ernst and Lovich, 2009). For example, male courtship tactics of T. gaigeae include head nodding (up-and- down) and wagging (side-to-side), and nasal squirting (Stuart and Miyashiro, 1998), in contrast to the facial strok- ing and biting observed in males of T. scripta (Cagle, 1950). The reproductive behavior of T. gaigeae is known from just a few sporadic notes (e.g., Legler, 1960; Stuart, 1995; Stuart and Painter, 1997; Stuart and Painter, 2006) and the most detailed account describes underwater courtship from individuals in captivity (i.e., Stuart and Miyashiro, 1998). Here we report an observation on above water behavior of T. gaigeae in natural conditions, which seemed to be associated with courtship. Beginning at 0900 h on 23 April 2016, in the southeastern region of Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, along the United States/Mexico border (29.204636°N, 102.913620°W; WGS 84; elev. 563 m), we observed three adult T. gaigeae (2 males, 1 female) in the Río Grande river at Boquillas Canyon—the type locality for T. gaigeae—engaged in pursuit behavior we interpret to be linked with courtship. The weather conditions on the morning of our observations were overcast with light, scattered rainfall. Two of the turtles initially were found breaking the surface of the water < 5 m from the shore, and resting upon the branches of a sunken tree (ca. depth < 0.3 m) (Fig. 1A). A large female T. gaigeae surfaced first, and soon was followed by the surfacing of a smaller male. Once both turtles were positioned along the surface, the male rapidly pursued the female and climbed onto her carapace. The male made several attempts to climb onto her carapace with approaches from lateral and posterior positions (Fig. 1A–F). When his forelimbs were positioned firmly on the female’s carapace, his movement stopped, upon which he pressed up and elevated his head above the surface of the water (Fig. 1B). The female occasionally dove underwater, and the male pursued her quickly. When the female resurfaced and rested upon a log, the male reappeared and repeatedly attempted to gain position on her carapace. This process of surfacing, pursuit, positioning on the carapace, pressing up, and submerging was repeated several times. After nearly 10 min, a larger male T. gaigeae surfaced simultaneously with the original two turtles (Fig. 1G). The two males quickly pursued the female and seemed to jostle for a posterior position on her carapace (Fig. 1H). Abruptly, the female dove underwater and both males immediately followed her. After 1 min, the larger male surfaced unaccompanied, then dove underwater and was not observed again (Fig. 1I). Shortly thereafter, the small male surfaced alone for a short time, rested on a submerged branch, and dove underwater again (Fig. 1J). About 7 min later, the female resurfaced and rested upon a branch of the sunken tree. She was trailed by the small male, who again made repeated attempts to climb and settle upon her carapace by approaching her from alternate sides (Fig. 1K–O). The duration of our observations lasted for more than 30 min. Also encountered was a single adult Apalone spinifera during some of these observations (see Fig. 1G–H, J). Most courtship and mating in T. gaigeae are thought to occur in April and May, prior to the nesting season (ca. late-May–July) (Morjan and Stuart, 2001). From wild-caught individuals of T. gaigeae maintained in outdoor artificial ponds, both head movements and nasal squirting were observed in April–May and head nodding alone in January–February (Stuart and Miyashiro, 1998). The limited published reports on the seasonality of courtship (April–May) and accounts of pre-courtship pursuit by males of females in T. gaigeae generally are consistent with our behavioral observations in the wild, suggesting that what we observed likely was associated with courtship. This species currently is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, because of its restricted range in rivers subjected to intensive hydrological management (van Dijk, 2013). Recently, Wilson et al. (2013) supported this IUCN listing for T. gaigeae, and extended it by assigning this species to the upper level of the high vulnerability category with an Environmental Vulnerability Score of 18. The dearth of empirical information regarding the basic reproductive biology of T. gaigeae renders this a noteworthy observation, and more research into the natural history and behavior of this species will be fundamental to improve its conservation outlook into the future.

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Fig. 1. Time-stamped serial photographs documenting above surface behavior of male and female Big Bend Sliders (Trachemys gaigeae) in the Río Grande, Boquillas Canyon, Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, along the United States/ Mexico border. ' © Daniel F. Hughes

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Acknowledgements.—We thank the staff of both Big Bend National Park and the United States National Park Service.

Literature Cited

Cagle, F. R. 1950. The life history of the slider turtle, Pseude- Stuart, J. N., and J. B. M. Miyashiro. 1998. Natural History Notes. mys scripta troostii (Holbrook). Ecological Monographs 20: Trachemys gaigeae (Big Bend Slider): Courtship behavior. 31–54. Herpetological Review 29: 235–236. Degenhardt, W. G., C. W. Painter, and A. H. Price. 1996. Stuart, J. N., and C. W. Painter. 1997. Natural History Notes. Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico. University of Trachemys gaigeae (Big Bend Slider): Reproduction. Herpe- New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United tological Review 29: 235–236. States. Stuart, J. N., and C. W. Painter. 2006. Natural History Notes. Ernst, C. H., and J. E. Lovich. 2009. Turtles of the United States Trachemys gaigeae (Big Bend Slider): Reproductive charac- and Canada. 2nd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Balti- teristics. Herpetological Review 37: 79. more, Maryland, United States. Stuart, J. N., and J. P. Ward. 2009. Trachemys gaigeae (Hartweg Gibbons, J. W. (Ed.). 1990. Life History and Ecology of the Slider 1939) – Big Bend Slider, Mexican Plateau Slider, Jicotea de la Turtle. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., Meseta Mexicana. In Rhodin, A. G. J., P. C. H. Pritchard, P. P. United States. van Dijk, R. A. Saumure, K. A. Buhlmann, J. B. Iverson, and Legler, J. M. 1960. Remarks on the natural history of the Big R. A. Mittermeier (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Bend Slider, Pseudemys scripta gaigeae Hartweg. Herpeto- Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/ logica 16: 139–140 SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelo- nian Research Monographs 5: 032.1–032.12. Morjan, C. L., and J. N. Stuart. 2001. Nesting record of a Big Bend Slider turtle (Trachemys gaigeae) in New Mexico, and van Dijk, P. P. 2013. Trachemys gaigeae. The IUCN Red List of overwintering of hatchlings in the nest. Southwestern Natu- Threatened Species 2013: e.T22024A9346883. (www.iucnre- ralist 46: 230–234. dlist.org; accessed 10 June 2016). Stuart, J. N. 1995. Notes on aquatic turtles of the Rio Grande Wilson, L. D., V. Mata-Silva, and J. D. Johnson. 2013. A conserva- drainage, New Mexico. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpeto- tion reassessment of the reptiles of Mexico based on the EVS logical Society 31: 147–157. measure. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7: 1–47. Stuart, J. N., and C. H. Ernst. 2004. Trachemys gaigeae. Cata- logue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 787: 1–6.

Daniel F. Hughes1, Jaclyn M. Adams2, Walter E. Meshaka, Jr.3, and Carl H. Ernst4

1Department of Biology, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, Texas, 79968, United States. E-mail: [email protected] (DFH, corresponding author) 2El Paso Community College, 919 Hunter Drive, El Paso, Texas, 79915, United States. 3Section of Zoology and Botany, State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17120, United States. 4320 Willow Dell Lane, Leola, Pennsylvania, 17540, United States.

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DISTRIBUTION NOTES

Amphibia: Anura Family Eleutherodactylidae Eleutherodactylus pallidus (Duellman, 1968). MEXICO: NAYARIT. Municipio de Tecuala, Ejido Las Lumbres, 3 km E of El Guastecomate (22.289436°N, 105.315871°W; WGS 84); elev. 84 m; 4 November 2015; Jesús A. Loc- Barragán and Emmanuel Miramontes-Medina. Two frogs (Fig. 1) were found under a log at night, immediately after a heavy rain. Photos vouchers of these individuals are deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8681–82). These vouchers represent a new municipality record and a range extension of 83.8 km to the N (airline) from the nearest reported locality at San Blas, Municipio de San Blas, Nayarit (Lynch, 1970).

Fig 1. Two individuals of E. pallidus (UTADC-8681, 8682; A, B, respectively) from 3 km E of El Guastecomate, Ejido Las Lumbres, Municipio de Tecuala, Nayarit, Mexico. ' © Jesús Loc-Barragán

Acknowledgments.––We thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher numbers.

Literature Cited

Lynch, J. D. 1970. A taxonomic revision of the leptodactylid frog genus Syrrhophus Cope. University of Kansas Publications. Museum of Natural History 20: 1–45.

Jesús A. Loc-Barragán1, Emmanuel Miramontes-Medina2, and Guillermo A. Woolrich-Piña3

1Grupo Ecologista Acaponeta A.C. Jalisco 50 Col. Centro, C.P. 63430, Acaponeta, Nayarit, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 2Pronatura Noroeste A.C. Rio Santiago 27 Col. Sánchez Ibarra, C.P. 63058, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. 3Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Zacapoaxtla, Subdirección de Investigación y Posgrado, Laboratorio de Zoología, División de Biología, Carretera Acuaco-Zacapoaxtla Km. 8, Col. Totoltepec, C. P. 73680, Zacapoaxtla, Puebla, Mexico.

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Family Hylidae Exerodonta sumichrasti Brocchi, 1879. MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, near El Obispo (16.175215°N, -97.322873°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,216 m; 16 June 2016; Vicente Mata-Silva, Dominic, L. DeSantis, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson. The frog (CIB-5038) was found active after a rain at 0120 h, on a plant near a stream (Fig. 1A). Another individual (photo voucher UTEP G-2016.29) was found in the same municipality, ca. 1 km E of El Pedimento (16.243806°N, -97.241407°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,992 m; 20 June 2016; Vicente Mata-Silva, Dominic, L. DeSantis, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry D. Wilson. This frog (Fig. 1B) was found calling after a rain in vegetation near a stream, in an area surrounded by remnants of pine-oak forest. Additionally, on 19 June 2016, one individual (photo voucher UTEP G-2016.30) was found in Municipio de San Juan Lachao, ca. 1.5 km (straight line) N of Santa Rosa de Lima (16.182241°N, -97.095880°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,316 m; Vicente Mata-Silva, Dominic, L. DeSantis, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry D. Wilson. This frog (Fig. 1C) was found in cloud forest, calling from vegetation after a rain. A second individual from Municipio de San Juan Lachao was found on 26 June 2016 near El Vidrio (16.262047°N, -97.152026°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,710 m; Vicente Mata-Silva and Arturo Rocha. This frog was calling from a plant along a rocky stream during a light rain, in an area consisting of patches of pine-oak forest (Fig. 1D). A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Digital Collection (photo voucher UTEP G-2016.31).

Fig. 1. Individuals of Exerodonta sumichrasti repoted from Oaxaca, Mexico. (A) (CIB-5038) from near El Obispo, Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila; (B) an adult male (UTEP G-2016.29) from near El Pedimento, Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila; (C) an adult male (UTEP G-2016.30) from near Santa Rosa de Lima, Municipio de San Juan Lachao; and (D) an adult male (UTEP G-2016.31) from near El Vidrio, Municipio de San Juan Lachao. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

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These above individuals represent new municipality records for San Juan Lachao and Santa Catarina Juquila. The record from near El Obispo also represents the westernmost distribution of this species along the Sierra Madre del Sur in Oaxaca (Duellman, 2001). The collected specimen is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, and the photo vouchers in the University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Digital Collection.

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Eduardo Mata-Silva for his invaluable assistance in the field, to the Bolán-Mata family for their great hospitality, and to Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, Christian Berriozabal-Islas, and José Daniel Lara-Tufiño for logistical support. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to ARB with extensions to VMS, AR, EGP, DLD, and LDW. Irene G. Mayer-Goyenechea kindly provided the specimen number, and Arthur Harris kindly provided the photo voucher numbers.

Literature Cited

Duellman, W. E. 2001. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. 2nd ed. Contributions to Herpetology, Volume 18, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York, United States.

Vicente Mata-Silva1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, Larry David wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

Sarcohyla ameibothalame (Canseco-Márquez, Mendelson and Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2002). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de San Felipe Tejalápam, Jalapa del Valle, Paraje El Capulín (17°02'13.7"N, 96°54'43.7"W; datum WGS 84), elev. 2,091 m; 26 August 2015; Pablo R. Simón-Salvador. The salamander was found active at dusk in pine- oak forest. A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.33). This voucher (Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, and a range extension of ca. 82 km to the SE (airline distance) from the vicinity of Santa María Nativitas, Oaxaca (Canseco-Márquez et al., 2002). This voucher also represents the third known locality (previously known from Yosocuno and Nativitas) and the lowest known elevation for this species (Canseco-Márquez et al., 2002), with all three localities in the Montañas y Valles de Occidente physiographic region (Mata-Silva et al., 2015).

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Fig. 1. An adult Plectrohyla ameibothalame (UTEP G-2016.33) from Paraje El Capulín, Jalapa del Valle, Municipio de San Felipe Tejalápam, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Pablo R. Simón-Salvador

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Arthur Harris for kindly providing the photo voucher number, and to Luis Canseco-Márquez for confirming the identification of the species.

Literature Cited

Canseco-Márquez, L., J. R. Mendelson, III, and G. Gutiér- Mata-Silva, V., J. D. Johnson, L. D. Wilson, and E. García-Padil- rez-Mayén. 2002. A New species of Hyla (Anura: Hylidae) la. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, from the Mixteca alta, Oaxaca, Mexico. Herpetologica 58: physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Meso- 260–269. american Herpetology 2: 6–62.

Pablo R. Simón-Salvador1, Elí García-Padilla2, Vicente Mata-Silva3, and Larry David Wilson4

1Laboratorio de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, C. P. 68000, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] 4Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Sarcohyla pentheter (Adler, 1965). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, 3.8 km E of Santa Catarina Juquila (16.236936ºN, -97.255507ºW; datum WGS 84), elev. 1,794 m.; 16 June 2016. Dominic L. DeSantis, Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson. A photograph of this specimen is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.37, Fig. 1A).

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In addition, two more individuals (Fig. 1B, C) were found near El Obispo, in the same municipality (16.175215ºN -97.322873ºW; WGS 84), elev. 1,216 m; 14 June 2016. Dominic L. DeSantis, Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson. The two specimens (CIB-5074 and CIB-5075) are deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. These three individuals represent new municipality records, and also slightly extend the distribution of S. pentheter in the state ca. 16 and 24 km (3.8 km from Santa Catarina Juquila and near El Obispo, respectively) to the west of various records in the Municipio de San Juan Lachao (Duellman, 2001; Köhler et al., 2016). The individual encountered near Santa Catarina Juquila was an adult female found on a paved road through fragmented pine-oak forest during light rain. The individuals from near El Obispo also were found during light rain, but on riparian vegetation along a large stream in pine-oak forest. In addition to the two males collected, several more were heard calling at the same locality.

A B C Fig. 1. An adult female Sarcohyla pentheter (UTEP G-2016.37) from 3.8 km E of Santa Catarina Juquila (A), and two adult males (CIB-5074 and CIB-5075) from near El Obispo, in Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila (B and C), Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

Literature Cited

Duellman, W. E. 2001. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. 2 Köhler, G., R. G. Trejo-Pérez, V. Reuber, G. Wehrenberg, and F. Volumes. 2nd ed. Contributions to Herpetology, Volume 18, Méndez-de la Cruz. 2016. A survey of tadpoles and adult anu- Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, ras in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca, Mexico (Amphibia: New York, United States. Anura). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 640–660.

Dominic L. DeSantis1, Vicente Mata-Silva1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, Larry David Wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

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Family Microhylidae

Hypopachus variolosus (Cope, 1866). MEXICO: HIDALGO: Municipio de San Felipe Orizatlán, near Piedra Hincada (21.28855ºN, -98.55405ºW; WGS 84); elev. 133 m; 25 June 2015; Hansel Hernández-Córdoba. The specimen was deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (CH CIB 4787). The frog was found in tropical forest, after it fell into a pitfall trap used in a dung beetle survey for HHC’s Master’s project. This specimen represents a new municipality record, with the closest known locality 88.4 km to the SE (airline distance) in the municipality of Hueuetla, Hidalgo (Berriozabal-Islas, 2012; Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2010; 2014), and 72.3 km to the NE (airline distance) in the municipality of Jacala de Ledezma, Hidalgo (Cruz-Elizalde et al., 2016). This specimen also represents the fifth published record of Hypopachus variolosus in the state. Previous records for this species in Hidalgo are from the municipalities of Acaxochitlán (Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016), Huehuetla (Berriozabal-Islas, 2012; Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2010; 2014), Jacala de Ledezma (Cruz-Elizalde et al., 2016), and Huautla (Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2010; 2014). The last record, however, lacks locality information (Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2010), as the specimen and its collecting data no longer are available in the herpetological collection of the Instituto Tecnológico de Huejutla. Acknowledgments.––We thank SEP-CONACyT Ciencia Básica 222632 project for funding and logistic support, and SEMARNAT for the collecting permit (FAUT-0052) provided to Irene Goyenechea. We are especially grateful to the Barragan family for their hospitality during our stay in San Felipe Orizatlán.

Literature Cited

Berriozabal-Islas, C. S. 2012. Riqueza y Diversidad Herpeto- Ramírez-Bautista, A., U. Hernández-Salinas, R. Cruz-Elizande, faunística del Bosque Tropical, Cafetales y Potreros del C. Berrizobal-Islas, D. Lara-Tufiño, I. Goyenechea, and J. Municipio de Huehuetla, Hidalgo, México. Unpiblished the- M. Castillo-Cerón. 2014. Los Anfibios y Reptiles de Hidal- sis, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, go, México. Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana, A.C., Mexico. Hidalgo, Mexico. Ramírez-Bautista, A., U. Hernández-Salinas, F. Mendoza-Quija- Cruz-Elizalde, R., C. Moreno and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2016. no, R. Cruz-Elizande, B. P. Stephenson, V. Vite-Silva, and Miscellaneous Notes. Hypopachus variolosus (Cope, 1866). A. Leyte-Manrique. 2010. Lista Anotada de los Anfibios y New range extension in a different vegetation type. Meso- Reptiles del Estado de Hidalgo, México. Universidad Autóno- american Herpetology 3: 799–801. ma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo, and Comisión Lemos-Espinal, J. A., and J. R. Dixon. 2016. Anfibios y Reptiles Nacional para el Uso y Conocimiento de la Biodiversidad, de Hidalgo, México. Comisión Nacional para el Cono- México, D.F., Mexico. cimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, México, D.F., Mexico.

Leonardo Fernández-Badilllo1,2, Raúl Valencia-Herverth3, Hansel Hernández-Cordóba4, Ilse Jaque- line Ortega-Martínez4, and Irene Goyenechea5

1Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (LFB, Corresponding author) 2Predio Intensivo de Manejo de Vida Silvestre X-Plora Reptilia, Carretera Mexico-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlan, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Instituto Tecnológico de Huejutla, carretera Huejutla-Chalahuiyapa, km 5.5.Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo. E-mail: [email protected] 4Laboratorio de Ecología de Comunidades, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. 5Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico.

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Amphibia: Caudata Family Plethodontidae

Bolitoglossa striatula (Noble, 1918). NICARAGUA: BOACO: Municipio de Camoapa, southern slope of Cerro Masigüe, Finca Santa Elena (12.53579°N, 85.35665°W; WGS 84); elev. 540 m; 15 October 2015; Lenin Alexander Obando. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Collection of Vertebrates Digital Collection (UTADC-8764; Fig. 1). The adult male salamander was found active at 2000 h during heavy rain, ca. 20 m away from a river and about 0.7 m above the ground on a leaf, in an area secondary vegetation in Lowland Moist Forest (Holdridge, 1967; Savage, 2002). This locality represents a new record for the department of Boaco. In Nicaragua, this relatively common species has been recorded from at elevations from near sea level to 1,380 m, in the following departments: Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Chontales, Granada, Jinotega, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Río San Juan, and Rivas (Noble, 1918; Villa, 1972; Köhler and McCranie, 1999; Köhler, 2001; Sunyer et al., 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014; Barquero et al., 2010; García-Roa et al., 2014; HerpetoNicas, 2015).

Fig. 1. An adult male Bolitoglossa striatula from Finca Santa Elena, Departamento de Boaco, Nicaragua. ' © Lenin Alexander Obando

Acknowledgments.––We thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher number. The authors are members of the Amphibian Specialist Group of Nicaragua.

Literature Cited

Barquero, M. D., M. Salazar-Saavedra, L. Sandoval, D. HerpetoNicas. 2015. Guía Ilustrada de Anfibios y Reptiles de Brenes, F. Martínez, and A. Figueroa. 2010. Composition Nicaragua. Dirección de Biodiversidad/MARENA, Managua, and species richness of herpetofauna in two isolated regions Nicaragua. of southern Nicaragua. Herpetology Notes 3: 341–352. Holdridge, L. R. 1967. Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Cen- García-Roa, R., J. Sunyer, A. Fernández-Loras, and J. Bosch. ter, San José, Costa Rica. 2014. First record of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Köhler, G. 2001. Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua. Herpeton, Nicaragua. Herpetological Journal 24: 65–68. Offenbach, Germany.

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Köhler, G., and J. R. McCranie. 1999. A new species of salaman- Sunyer, J., J. G. Martínez-Fonseca, M. Salazar-Saavedra, D. M. der from Volcán Mombacho, Nicaragua, formerly referred to Galindo-Uribe, and L. A. Obando. 2014. Range extensions Bolitoglossa striatula (Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae. and new departmental records for amphibians in Nicaragua. Senckenbergiana Biologica 79: 89–93. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 165–175. Noble, G. K. 1918. The amphibians collected by the American Sunyer, J., G. Páiz, M. Dehling, and G. Köhler. 2009. A collection Museum expeditions to Nicaragua in 1916. Bulletin of the of amphibians from Río San Juan, southeastern Nicaragua. American Museum of Natural History 38: 311–347. Herpetology Notes 2: 189–202. Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: Sunyer, J., D. B. Wake, and L. A. Obando. 2012. Distributional A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two data for Bolitoglossa (Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae) Seas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Herpetological Review 43: United States. 560–564. Sunyer, J., S. Lotzkat, A. Hertz, D. B. Wake, B. Alemán, S. Villa, J. D. 1972. Anfibios de Nicaragua: Introducción a su Robleto, and G. Köhler. 2008. Two new species of sala- Sistemática, Vida y Costumbres. Instituto Geográfico Nacion- manders (genus Bolitoglossa) from southern Nicaragua al & Banco Central de Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua. (Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 88: 319–328.

Lenin Alexander Obando1 and Javier Sunyer1, 2

Pseudoeurycea mixteca (Cope, 1885). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de San Agustín Etla, Paraje Ex-planta Hidroeléctrica (17°12'14.68"N, 96°43'34.21"W; WGS 84), elev. 1,986 m; 8 July 2016; César Mayoral-Halla. The specimen was found under a log near a river, in oak forest. A photograph of this specimen is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.32). This individual (Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, as well as the first record for the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca physiographic region (Mata-Silva et al., 2015), with the closest reported locality ca. 80 km NNW in the vicinity of the type locality at San Pedro Jocotipac, Oaxaca (Canseco-Márquez and Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2005).

Fig. 1. A Pseudoeurycea mixteca (UTEP G-2016.32) from Paraje Ex-planta Hidroeléctrica, Municipio de San Agustín Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Pablo R. Simón-Salvador

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Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Arthur Harris for kindly providing the photo voucher number, and to Luis Canseco-Márquez for confirming the identification of the species.

Literature Cited

Canseco-Márquez, L., and G. Gutiérrez-Mayén. 2005. New Mata-Silva, V., J. D. Johnson, L. D. Wilson, and E. García-Padil- species of Pseudoeurycea (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from la. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, the mountains of the Mixteca region of Oaxaca. Journal of physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Meso- Herpetology 39: 181–185. american Herpetology 2: 6–62.

César Mayoral-Halla1, Francisco Ramírez-Jiménez2, Pablo R. Simón-Salvador3, Elí García-Padilla4, Vicente Mata-Silva5, and Larry David Wilson6

1Calle Emiliano Zapata, Colonia Reforma Oaxaca, C. P. 68050, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Calle Cruz del rio, fraccionamiento Santa Cruz Amilpas Oaxaca, C. P. 71226, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Laboratorio de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, C. P. 68000, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 4Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 5Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 6Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Reptilia: Squamata (lizards) A new locality for Corytophanes hernandesii (Wiegmann, 1831), (Squamata: Corytophanidae) in western Honduras, with comments on its distribution Members of the Neotropical genus Corytophanes (Boie, 1827) are moderate-sized lizards that are characterized by the presence of a conspicuous parietal blade (Lang, 1989), and which primarily are arboreal (Pianka and Vitt, 2003; Vitt and Caldwell, 2009). On the Atlantic versant their distribution extends from southeastern San Luis Potosí, Mexico, to northwestern Colombia, and on the Pacific versant from Chiapas, Mexico, to western El Salvador and southwestern Honduras, and then from northwestern Costa Rica to central Panama, at elevations from near sea level to 2,200 m. (Townsend et al., 2004). The genus consists of three species: C. cristatus (Merren, 1820), C. hernandesii (Wiegmann, 1831), and C. percarinatus (Duméril, 1856) (Savage, 2002; Köhler, 2003; Townsend et al., 2004). All three species are found in Honduras (Solís et al., 2014; McCranie, 2015). Hernandez’s Helmeted Basilisk (Turipache de Montaña), C. hernandesii, occurs on the Atlantic versant from southeastern San Luis Potosí, Mexico, to northwestern Honduras, at elevations from near sea level to 1,300 m (Townsend et al., 2004). In Honduras C. hernandesii is an uncommon species, known only from four localities in the departments of Cortés and Santa Barbara (McCranie and Espinal, 1998; McCranie et al., 2004; J. McCranie, pers comm. [see below]). Here we report a new locality for this species, and discuss the provenance of other records from the country. In October of 2015, we conducted a field survey in western Honduras. On 4 November 2015 at 2023 h, we collected an adult female C. hernandesii in the community of El Bijao, Trinidad, Departamento de Copán (14°58'19.3"N, 88°46'27.0"W; WGS 84; elev. 731 m). The lizard was sleeping on a branch at a height of 0.5 m.

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A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Collection of Vertebrates Digital Collection (UTADC-8772; Fig. 1A). The measurements for the lizard were as follows: head length = 42.1 mm; total length = 362 mm; shank length = 36.9 mm; snout–vent length = 105.9 mm; and tail length = 256.1 mm. Like other members of Corytophanes, the cryptic and disruptive coloration of C. cristatus is typical of a highly specialized sit-and-wait predator (Andrews, 1979; Lang, 1989; Sasa and Monrós, 2000). The dark shades in the individual of C. hernandesii ranged from sepia in the cephalic region and conspicuous spots in the dorsolateral, scapular, and sacral regions, to a network of mahogany shades in the scapular region, and pale (olive yellow/color 52) lines on the supralabials, infralabials, and the venter and limbs (colors based on Smithe, 1975). The lizard was found in a patch of Premontane Wet Forest (Holdridge, 1987; see map in McCranie and Wilson, 2002: 20) near a road and close to a farm with livestock. The individual represents a new departmental record and the southernmost record for the species, with the nearest known locality at Las Rosas, in the department of Santa Bárbara (McCranie and Espinal, 1998; Fig. 2). McCranie et al. (2004) indicated two localities for C. hernandesii in Honduras, of which one is the record provided by McCranie and Espinal (1998). We were unable to find the second locality, but according to J. McCranie (pers. comm.) it was based on an old record. Although C. hernandesii first was recorded from Honduras by McCranie and Espinal (1998), previously Campbell (1982) noted a specimen from the Northwestern Honduran Highlands at an elevation of 850 m. Apparently, the specimen was collected in 1973 in the department of Cortés and deposited in the Carnegie Museum, and it actually represents the first record of this species from the country. Additionally, in an Operacion Wallacea expedition in 2006, a C. hernandesii was reported from a buffer zone camp (Buenos Aires) at Parque Nacional Cusuco (McInnes et. al., 2006). According Fig. 1. Individuals of Corytophanes hernadesii in this to Jonathan Kolby (pers. comm.), the presence of this spe- report. (A) UTADC-8772 from El Bijao, Trinidad, cies was based on a photograph; this photo represents the Departamento de Copán; and (B) CM 158769) from second individual known from the Sierra de Omoa. In Totoca, Departamento de Santa Barbara. 2008, ME found a C. hernandesii (CM 158759; Fig. 1B) at ' © Josue Ramos (A) and Mario Espinal (B) Totoca, Departamento de Santa Barbara, the second record from the department. Based on a review of the literature, with the specimen of C. hernandesii reported herein four specimens of this species are known from Honduras, in addition to the individual in the Cusuco report. Of these records, three are from the Sierra de Merendón and one from the Sierra de Omoa, parallel mountain ranges separated by a depres- sion formed by the Río Chamelecón. All of the records are from the Northern Cordillera of Serranía Region (see McCranie and Wilson 2002: 15). Whereas records from the Sierra de Omoa lack precise data or were not collected, the mountain systems of Omoa, Espiritu Santo, and Merendón are interconnected, so this species likely occurs in the Sierra Espiritu Santo. Corytophanes hernandesii has been evaluated as Least Concern by IUCN, based on its wide distribution (Ariano-Sánchez et al., 2013), and using an environmental vulnerability measure Johnson et al., (2015) assessed this species a medium vulnerability score (EVS = 13). In Honduras, forests where this species has been found have become highly fragmented due to human disturbance, and conserving the remaining forest patches and connectivity among these areas is important for the survival of this species and much of the accompanying herpetofauna.

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Fig. 2. Recorded localities for Corytophanes hernandesii in Honduras. The square represents the locality in McCranie and Espinal (1998), the star the locality in McInnes et. al. (2006), the triangle the locality for the specimen cited in Campbell (1982), and the pentagon the locality provided by ME. The circle represents the new record from the department of Copán.

Fig. 3. Map showing localities for all the known Corytophanes hernandesii in northwestern and western Honduras. The shaded area in blue is the Sierra de Omoa; the one in orange the Sierra Espiritu Santo; and the one in green the Sierra de Merendón. The star represents the locality in McInnes et. al., 2006; the triangle the locality for the specimen cited in Campbell (1982); and the square the locality provided by ME. The circle indicates the new record from El Bijao, Trinidad, Departamento de Copán.

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Acknowledgments.––We thank José Mario Solís for providing literature, “Marlon” for assisting with our fieldwork, and Said Lainez and Roberto Downing of the Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre [ICF]), Tegucigalpa for other courtesies. We also thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher number.

Literature Cited

Andrews, R. M. 1979. The lizard Corytophanes cristatus: an McCranie, J. R., J. H. Townsend, and L. D. Wilson. 2004. Cory- extreme “sit-and-wait” predator. Biotropica 11: 136–139. tophanes hernandesii. Catalogue of American Reptiles and Ariano- Sánchez, D., L. Canseco-Márquez, J. Lee, R. C. Mandu- Amphibians 790.1–790.6. jano, J. Sunyer, and M. A. López-Luna. 2013. Corytophanes McCranie, J. R., and L. D. Wilson. 2002. The Amphibians of Hon- hernandesii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species duras. Society for the study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Con- 2013: e. T197474A2488010. (www.dx.doi.org/10.2305/ tribution to Herpetology 19, Ithaca, New York, United States. IUCN.UK.2013_2.RLTS.T197474A88010.en; accessed 7 McInnes, L., S. Petrovan, S. Micklets, A. Monie, D. Fraser. 2006. January 2016). Herpetology team. In Field Report: University of Nottingham/ Campbell, J. A. 1982. The Biogeography of the Cloud Forest Opperation Wallacea Forest Project, Honduras 2006. (www. Herpetofauna of Middle America with Special Reference to opwall.com/wp-content/uploads/Cusuco-Field-Report-2006. the Sierra de Las Minas of Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. pdf; accessed 7 January 2016) dissertation, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, Unit- Pianka, E. R., and L. J. Vitt. 2003. Lizards: Windows to the Evo- ed States. lution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, Holdridge, L. R. 1987. Ecología Basada en Zonas de Vida. Insti- California, United States. tuto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura, San Sasa, M., and J. S. Monrós. 2000. Dietary analysis of helmeted José, Costa Rica. basilisks, Corytophanes (Reptilia: Corytophanidae). The Johnson, J. D., V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson. 2015. A conser- Southwestern Naturalist 45: 358–361. vation reassessment of the Central American Herpetofauna Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibian and Reptiles of Costa Rica: based on the EVS measure. Amphibian & Reptile Conserva- A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. tion 9(2) [General Section]: 1–94 (e100). The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United Köhler, G. 2003. Reptiles of Central America. Herpeton, Offen- States. bach, Germany. Smithe, F. B. 1975. Naturalist’s Color Guide. American Museum of Lang, M. 1989. Phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns of Natural History, New York, New York, United States. basiliscine iguanians (Reptilia: Squamatha: “Iguanidae”). Solís J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated Bonner Zoologische Monographien 28: 1–172. list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with com- McCranie, J. R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles ments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some 123–144. recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies Townsend, J. H., J. R. McCranie, and L. D. Wilson. 2004. Cory- needed. Zootaxa 3,931: 352–386. tophanes. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles McCranie, J. R., and M. R. Espinal. 1998. Geographic Distri- 788: 1–4. bution. Corytophanes hernandezii (Hernandez’s Helmeted Vitt, L. J., and J. P. Caldwell. 2009. Herpetology: An Introductory Basilisk). Herpetological Review 29: 174 Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, 3rd ed. Academic Press, Burlington Massachusetts, United States.

Josue Ramos Galdamez1,2, Luis Gualberto Zuñiga1,2, and Mario Espinal3

1Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Bulevar Suyapa, Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected] 2Grupo de Investigación de Anfibios y Reptiles de Honduras (GIRAH). 3Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad (CZB), Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, El Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras.

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Family Eublepharidae Coleonyx fasciatus (Boulenger, 1885). MEXICO: SONORA: Municipio de Nacozari de García, Pilares de Nacozari, 6.5 km (airline distance) SE of Nacozari de García, Sierra Nacozari (30.32833°N, -109.62972°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,413 m; 9 August 2015; Patrick H. H. Brown. The individual was found at ca. 2230 h, emerging from a crack in a concrete staircase among the abandoned buildings of Pilares de Nacozari. A photo voucher (UAZ 57635- PSV) was deposited in the University of Arizona Museum of Natural History Amphibian and Reptile Collection. Data collection and an image of the same individual (Fig. 1) also are available in the Madrean Discovery Expedition database (www.madreandiscovery.org; record mde-3993). This observation represents a new municipality record, with the closest published locality ca. 47 km to the W in the vicinity of Arizpe (Rorabaugh, 2005). The burnt orange coloration on the head and neck of this voucher is unusual for this species. The transition between the New World tropics and the northern temperate zone lies at about 29°N in east-central Sonora. Foothills thornscrub (matorral espinoso) is an important biotic community in Sonora, which is transitional between Sonoran desertscrub and tropical deciduous forest in southern Sonora and oak woodland in eastern Sonora (Van Devender et al., 2013). The transition between foothills thornscrub (FTS) and desert grassland in the north is limited by freezing temperatures. In the north FTS is replaced by desert grassland, as winters become colder and periodic fires become ecological processes. The northern limits of FTS in Sonora are at about 30°11'N east of Sinoquipe in the Río Sonora Valley (just north of Arizpe) and 30°26'N at Presa Angostura on the Río Bavispe at the southern end of the Sierra El Tigre. FTS does not reach Arizona, but the distribu- tions of several squamates that inhabit thornscrub extend into southern Arizona in desert grassland or oak woodland (e.g., Gyalopion quadrangulare and Oxybelis aeneus). On the south side of the Sierra de Nacozari there are local patches of thornscrub with tree ocotillo (Fouquieria mac- dougallii) near Pilares de Nacozari. Other tropical species, including Boa sigma, reach their northern distributional limits in the Río Sonora Valley just north of Arizpe. Coleonyx fasciatus at Arizpe and Pilares de Nacozari are similar records of a tropical species reaching its northern limits. Fig. 1. A Coleonyx fasciatus (UAZ 57635-PSV) from Pilares de This species mostly is known from trop- Nacozari, Municipio de Nacozari de García, Sonora, Mexico. ical deciduous forest in southern Sonora, ' © Patrick H. H. Brown 375 km to the SSE of Pilares de Nacozari.

Acknowledgments.––We thank Mario Cirett-Galán, the staff of the Reserva Forestal Nacional y Refugio de Fauna Silvestre Ajos-Bavispe, and the the Madrean Discovery Expeditions volunteers.

Literature Cited

Rorabaugh, J. C. 2005. An introduction to the herpetofauna of F. Ffolliott, B. S. Gebow, L. G. Eskew, and L. C. Collins mainland Sonora, México, with comments on conservation (Compilers). Merging Science and Management in a Rap- and management. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy idly Changing World: Biodiversity and Management of the of Science 40: 20–65. Madrean Archipelago III and 7th Conference on Research Van Devender, T. R., G. Yanes-Arvayo, G., A. L. Reina-Guer- and Resource Management in the Southwestern Deserts. rero, M. Valenzuela-Yánez, M. P. Montañez-Armenta, 2012 May 1–5, Tucson, AZ. Proceedings RMRS-P-67. U.S. and H. Silva-Kurumiya. 2013. Comparison of the tropical Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain floras of the Sierra la Madera and the Sierra Madre Occi- Research Station, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. dental, Sonora, Mexico. Pp. 240–242 In G. J. Gottfried, P.

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Patrick H. H. Brown1, Tom R. Van Devender2, and Dale S. Turner3

11316 East Silver Street, Tucson, Arizona 85719, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 2GreaterGood.org, 6262 N. Swan Rd., Suite 150, Tucson, Arizona 85718, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 3The Nature Conservancy, 1510 E. Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, Arizona 85719, United States. E-mail: [email protected]

Family Phrynosomatidae

Phrynosoma orbiculare (Linnaeus, 1758). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, Cruz de Tabla (17.575927°N, -97.352579°W; WGS 84), elev. 2,539 m; 28 September 2012. Clarita Alicia Ibarra- Contreras. A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.38). This voucher (Fig. 1) represents the first record of P. orbiculare in the state of Oaxaca, and extends the range ca. 95 km to the S from the closest known published locality at San Diego Chalma, Puebla, Mexico (Smith and Taylor, 1950). The lizard was found at noon on rocky substrate with scarce vegetation, with the surrounding area consisting of pine-oak forest; this location lies in the Montañas y Valles del Occidente physiographic region (Mata-Silva et al., 2015). While researching the distribution of this species in the state of Puebla, we became aware of a specimen of P. orbiculare (CM 38890) deposited at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and its information is available on VertNet (2016). The locality for this specimen is Zapotitlán de Las Salinas, and it was collected by Epping Otto M. in 1963. We decided, however, to omit this record as the nearest locality because this species has not been reported from this region (Mata-Silva, 2003; Woolrich-Piña et al., 2005; Canseco-Márquez and Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2006; Canseco-Márquez and Gutiérrez-Mayén, 2010), and the site does not correspond with the typical habitat of P. orbiculare. At VertNet (2016) we also found information on a specimen (ROM 0849) deposited at the Royal Ontario Museum, which was identified as P. orbiculare and supposedly was found in Oaxaca; however, we verified that the specimen actually was found in northern Puebla (10 km S of Zaragoza by M. Villegas in 1969).

Fig. 1. An adult Phrynosoma orbiculare (UTEP G-2016.38) from Cruz de Tabla, Municipio de Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Clarita Alicia Ibarra-Contreras

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Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to the people of the community of Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán and to the Naturalista-CONABIO platform (www.naturalista.mx), where this observation initially was shared. We also are grateful to David C. Evans and Kevin Seymour of the Royal Ontario Museum and Stephen P. Rogers of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for providing information on specimens ROM 0849 and CM 38890, respectively.

Literature Cited

Canseco-Márquez, L., and M. G. Gutiérrez-Mayén. 2006. Guía Mata-Silva, V. 2003. Estudio comparativo del ensamble de anfibi- de Campo de los Anfibios y Reptiles del Valle de Zapotitlán, os y reptiles de Zapotitlán de las Salinas, Puebla, México. Puebla. Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana, A.C. y Escuela Boletín de la Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana 11: 9–20. de Biología, Benemérita Universidad de Puebla, Puebla, Mata-Silva, V., J. D. Johnson, L. D. Wilson, and E. García-Padil- Mexico. la. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, Canseco-Márquez, L., and M. G. Gutiérrez-Mayén. 2010. physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Meso- Anfibios y Reptiles del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Comis- american Herpetology 2: 6–62. ión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversi- Woolrich-Piña, G. A., L. Oliver-López, and J. Lemos-Espinal. dad, Fundación para la Reserva de la Biósfera Cuicatlán A. 2005. Anfibios y Reptiles del Valle de Zapotitlán Salinas, C., Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, México, Puebla. Universidad Autónoma Nacional de México. Comis- D.F., Mexico. ión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, México, D.F., Mexico.

Clarita Alicia Ibarra-Contreras1, Uri Omar García-Vázquez2, Elí García-Padilla3, Vicente Mata-Silva4, Dominic L. DeSantis4, Jerry D. Johnson4, and Larry David Wilson5

1Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, Oaxaca, México. 2Laboratorio de Herpetología, Museo de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Apartado postal 70-399, 04510 México, D. F., Mexico 3Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 4Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] 5Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Family Xenosauridae

Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus Woolrich-Piña and Smith, 2012. MEXICO: HIDALGO: near Alumbres, Municipio de Metztitlán (20.6714630ºN, -98.6904373ºW; WGS 84) elev. 2,090 m; 28 August 2016; Miguel Ángel Flores- Hernández. This individual (CH-CIB 79; Fig. 1A) represents a new municipality record, with the closest known locality 9.9 km to the NW (airline distance) in the vicinity of La Mojonera, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles, Hidalgo (Woolrich-Piña and Smith, 2012; Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2014; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016; Nieto- Montes de Oca et al., 2016). The lizard was found inside a rock crevice in pine-oak forest. A rock mine was located ca. 200 m from the site where we saw the lizard. Local residents indicated seeing other individuals near the mine, and thus the species at this locality would seem to be at high risk of disappearing.

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We saw two other individuals of Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus. The first (CH-CIB 80; Fig. 1B) was north of Alumbres, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (20.679452ºN, -98.685174ºW; WGS A 84) elev. 2,002 m; 25 September 2015; Miguel Ángel Flores-Hernández. This individual was found within construction panels behind a cabin located in oak-sweetgum/pine-forest, and represents the first record for this species known to use a human modified environment as a microhabitat. This record is located 1.0 km N of the Municipio de Metztitlán locality (see above), and 9.6 km to the NW from the vicinity of La Mojonera, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (Woolrich-Piña and Smith, 2012; Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2014; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016). The second individual (CH-CIB 81; Fig. 1C) was found near La Mojonera, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (20.635478°N, -98.617732°W; WGS 84) B elev. 1,976 m; 7 August 2016; Cristian Raúl Olvera- Olvera. This record is located 1.7 km to the E from the previous locality. The records from Alumbres fill a distribution gap between the locality of La Mojonera, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (Woolrich- Piña and Smith, 2012), and the other two known localities (Aguatitla and Atezca) from the Municipio de Molango de Escamilla (Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2014; Juárez-Escamilla, 2016). The photo vouchers (CH-CIB 79–81), are deposited in the photographic collection of the Herpetological Collection of the Centro de Investi- gaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del C Estado de Hidalgo. All of the photographs were taken in-situ, and the lizards were not collected.

Acknowledgments.––We thank Christian Said Berriozabal-Islas for helping to identify the lizards, and Luis Canseco-Márquez for corroborating their identification. We also thank Diego Juárez- Escamilla for providing information on the localities in Molango de Escamilla, Hidalgo, and Carlos Maciel-Mata for providing information on the species. Irene Goyenechea graciously allowed us to de- Fig 1. Individuals of Xenosaurus tzacualtipantecus from Hidalgo, Mexico: (A) near Alumbres, Municipio de posit the photographs in the CH-CIB herpetological Metztitlán (CH-CIB 79); (B) near Alumbres, Municipio collection. de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (CH.-CIB 80); and (C) near la Mojonera, Municipio de Zacualtipán de Ángeles (CH-CIB 81). ' © Miguel Ángel Flores-Hernández (A), Leonardo Fernández-Badillo (B), and Cristian R. Olvera-Olvera (C)

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Literature Cited

Juárez-Escamilla, J. 2016. Diversidad de Anfibios y Reptiles en Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) using ddRADseq data Bosques y Potreros del Municipio de Molango de Escamilla, reveal a substantial underestimaton of diversity. Molecular Hidalgo, Mexico. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Univer- Phylogenetics and Evolution. 106: 241–253. doi: 10.1016/j. sidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Mexico. ympev.2016.09.001. Lemos-Espinal, J. A., and J. R. Dixon. 2016. Anfibios y Reptiles Ramírez-Bautista, A., U. Hernández-Salinas, R. Cruz-Elizalde, de Hidalgo, Mexico / Amphibians and Reptiles of Hidalgo, C. Berriozabal-Islas, D. Lara Tufiño, I. Goyenechea May- Mexico. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de er-Goyenechea, and J. M. Castillo-Cerón. 2014. Los Anfibi- la Biodiversidad, México, D.F., Mexico. os y Reptiles de Hidalgo, México: Diversidad, Biogeografía Nieto-Montes de Oca, A., A. J. Barley, R. N. Meza-Lázaro, U. y Conservación. Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana, Mexico. O. García-Vázquez, J. G. Zamora-Abrego, R. C. Thomson Woolrich-Piña, G. A., and G. R. Smith.2012. A new species of and A. D. Leaché. 2016 (dated 2017) Phylogenomics and Xenosaurus from the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. Herpe- species delimitation in the knob-scaled lizards of the genus tologica 68: 551–559.

Miguel Ángel Flores-Hernández1, Leonardo Fernández-Badillo2,3, and Cristian R. Olvera-Olvera4

1Laboratorio de Conservación Biológica, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (LFB, Corresponding author). 3Predio Intensivo de Manejo de Vida Silvestre X-Plora Reptilia, Carretera México-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlán, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 4Laboratorio de Morfología Animal, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

New departmental records for lizards in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is one of the poorest (if not the poorest) herpetologically surveyed countries in Mesoamerica, and tradi- tionally has fallen behind in the distributional knowledge of its herpetofauna. Although several attempts have been made to compile the available records of amphibians and reptiles from the country, a detailed picture of their distri- butions is far from complete (Sunyer and Köhler, 2010). Most of the 17 political departments in Nicaragua have not been surveyed adequately, and considerable gaps are apparent in the distribution of many species. As a result of recent field surveys, herein we report several new departmental records and range extensions for selected lizard species in Nicaragua. Searches were made during the day and night, and individuals or specimens were photographed and/or captured by hand. We handled all animals according to the approved IACUC standards and protocols (IACUC #16–13). For euthanasia, we applied an intracardial injection of T61 (Intervet) the day after capture. For preservation, we injected the soft parts of each specimen with a solution of formalin [4], and after fix- ation submerged it in a closed bottle filled with the same solution. We include photographs for all the records that lack voucher specimens; the photographs are vouchered at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC). The acronyms for the museum collections follow Sabaj-Pérez (2013).

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We placed each of the mentioned localities (Fig. 1) within the nine forest formations recognized for the country based on the life zone concept proposed by Holdridge (1967) and used by Savage (2002) and Sunyer and Köhler (2010), as follows [all elevations asl]: Lowland Wet Forest (Río Pijibaye); Lowland Moist Forest (portions of Cerros Masigüe and Saslaya below 600 m); Premontane Moist Forest (portions of Cerro Masigüe above 600 m); and Lower Montane Moist Forest (portions of Departamento Estelí above 1,200 m). Portions of Departamento Madriz ranging from 600 to 1,200 m correspond to a transitional area between Premontane Moist and Dry forests. Reserva Silvestre Privada La Conga, and to a lesser degree Reserva Silvestre Privada El Abuelo, correspond to a transitional area between Lowland Moist and Dry forests.

Fig. 1. Map of Nicaragua showing the collecting localities mentioned in the text: (1) Monumento Nacional Cañón de Somoto; (2) Laguna La Bruja; (3) Reserva Natural Miraflores; (4) Parque Nacional Cerro Saslaya; (5) Finca Santa Elena; (6) Reserva Silvestre Privada La Conga; (7) Reserva Silvestre Privada El Abuelo; and (8) Río Pijibaye. Water surfaces = pale gray; areas 600–1,200 m in elevation = gray; and areas above 1,200 m in elevation = dark gray.

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Order Squamata (lizards) Family Anguidae Diploglossus monotropis (Kuhl, 1820). ATLÁNTICO SUR: Río Pijibaye (11.46726°N, 83.88084°W; WGS 84); elev. 15 m; 20 April 2014; Milton Salazar-Saavedra, Daniel Urbina, José Antonio Orozco, and Arcadio Gómez; MHUL 179 (see below). Additionally, a photo voucher of an adult female is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8766; Fig. 2B). The two individuals were collected in a pitfall trap on the same day, a juvenile male (MHUL 179) during the morning and an adult female (Fig. 2B) during the afternoon. In Nicaragua, this species only has been recorded from a single locality in the department of Río San Juan (Villa, 1971; Köhler, 2001). The records from Atlántico Sur previously were included in HerpetoNicas (2015) based on photographs, but because of the relatively low number of copies of this free, limited edition publication, which only is available at the national level, herein we are providing these records. The Río Pijibaye locality, therefore, corresponds to the second known locality for Nicaragua and the northernmost record for this species, and extends its distribution ca. 71 km to the NE. Family Corytophanidae Basiliscus vittatus Wiegmann, 1828. BOACO: Municipio de Camoapa, southern slope of Cerro Masigüe, Finca Santa Elena (12.53579°N, 85.35665°N; WGS 84); elev. 535 m; 18 September 2009; Javier Sunyer and Lenin A. Obando; MHUL 174. We found an adult male at night, sleeping on low vegetation. RIVAS: Municipio de Cárdenas, Reserva Silvestre Privada El Abuelo (11.12435°N, 85.28355°W; WGS 84); elev. 35 m; 18 March 2015; José G. Martínez-Fonseca and Luis Gutiérrez-López. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8767; Fig. 2C). This young female was found active at 1750 h, perched ca. 2 m above the ground on the trunk of a Panama Tree (Sterculia apetala) located near the mouth of a small stream that empties into Lago de Nicaragua. Several individuals of both sexes and different age classes were seen in the same general area. In Nicaragua, this relatively abundant species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Chinandega, Chontales, Estelí, Jinotega, Managua, Matagalpa, and Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; Gómez et al., 2011). Family Dactyloidae Norops biporcatus (Wiegmann, 1834). MADRIZ: Laguna de la Bruja, El Pegadero (13.35494°N, 86.62511°W; WGS 84); elev. 1,155 m; 15 October 2010; Javier Sunyer, Lenin A. Obando, and Liliana Solano; MHUL 175. We found an individual sleeping at night on vegetation. In Nicaragua, this relatively abundant species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Boaco, Carazo, Granada, Jinotega, Managua, Matagalpa, Río San Juan, and Rivas (Köhler, 2001; Köhler and Veselý, 2003; Salazar et al., 2009; Travers et al., 2011; HerpetoNicas, 2015).

Norops capito (Peters, 1863). BOACO: Municipio de Camoapa, southern slope of Cerro Masigüe, Finca Santa Elena (12.53437°N, 85.36208°W; WGS 84); elev. 740 m; 29 May 2010; Javier Sunyer, Lenin A. Obando, Kirsten E. Nicholson, John G. Phillips, and Jenny A. Gubler; MHUL 176. We found an adult male at night sleeping on a branch ca. 1.5 m above a stream. In Nicaragua, this species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Estelí, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; Köhler et al., 2005).

Norops laeviventris (Wiegmann, 1834). ESTELÍ: Reserva Natural Miraflores (13.24722°N, 86.25750°W; WGS 84); elev. 1,325 m; 17 October 2010; Javier Sunyer, Lenin A. Obando, and Liliana Solano; MHUL 177. We found an individual at night sleeping on vegetation. In Nicaragua, this species has been recorded from the departments of Jinotega and Matagalpa (Köhler, 2001).

Norops oxylophus (Cope, 1875). RIVAS: Municipio de Cárdenas, Reserva Silvestre Privada La Conga (11.23386°N, 85.57801°W; WGS 84); elev. 57 m; 15 October 2011; José G. Martínez-Fonseca and Luis Gutiérrez-López. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8768; Fig. 2D). This young male was found at 2130 h, sleeping on a branch ca. 1.2 m above a three meter-wide stream. In

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Nicaragua, this species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Boaco, Chontales, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; HerpetoNicas, 2015). The La Conga locality also represents the westernmost record for this species in Nicaragua and the first on the Pacific versant of the country, and extends its distribution ca. 138 km to the W from the closest locality at Refugio Bartola (Köhler, 2001). Family Mabuyidae Marisora alliacea (Cope, 1876). ATLÁNTICO SUR: Río Pijibaye, Caño Indio (11.42775°N, 83.87397°W; WGS 84); elev. 25 m; 2 December 2013; Milton Salazar-Saavedra, Daniel Urbina, José Antonio Orozco, and Arcadio Gómez; MHUL 178. We collected an individual (Fig. 2E) at night, sleeping under a fallen rotten log near a stream. In Nicaragua, this species only has been recorded from the department of Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; Sunyer et al. 2015), and thus the Río Pijibaye locality represents the northernmost record for this species, extending its distribution over 40 km to the N from its closest record at Dos Bocas de Río Indio (Sunyer et al., 2015). Family Polychrotidae Polychrus gutturosus Berthold, 1845. ATLÁNTICO NORTE: Parque Nacional Cerro Saslaya (13.75306°N, 84.94267°W; WGS 84); elev. 465 m; 18 May 2011; Milton Salazar-Saavedra and Juan Mena. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Collection of Vertebrates Digital Collection (UTADC-8769; Fig. 2F). We found the lizard at 2140 h, perched on herbaceous vegetation. In Nicaragua, this species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Sur, Chontales, and Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; Ruiz et al., 2016). The Saslaya record, therefore, represents the first locality in northern Nicaragua and fills in a gap of over 220 km in the distribution of this species, between central Nicaragua and southern Honduras. Family Teiidae Aspidoscelis motaguae (Sackett, 1941). MADRIZ: Monumento Nacional Cañón de Somoto (13.46468°N, 86.69594°W; WGS 84); elev. 700 m; 20 September 2015; José G. Martínez-Fonseca and Abigail Arauz-Jirón. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8770; Fig. 2G). We photographed a juvenile on the ground at 1440 h, near some pine trees in the canyon above the river at an elevation of ca. 130 m, and saw another adult individual 20 min later on the lower portion of the canyon. In Nicaragua, this species only has been recorded from a single locality in the department of Nueva Segovia (Köhler et al., 2013). The Somoto locality represents a new departmental record, the second record of this species in Nicaragua, and the southernmost record for this species, extending its distribution ca. 32 km to the S. Family Xantusiidae Lepidophyma flavimaculatum Duméril, 1851. RIVAS: Municipio de Cárdenas, Reserva Silvestre Privada El Abuelo (11.11079°N, 85.26960°W; WGS 84); elev. 42 m; 6 July 2013; Milton Salazar-Saavedra and José G. Martínez-Fonseca. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8771; Fig. 2H). The lizard was found under a log at 0650 h, ca. 150 m from the edge of Lago de Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, this species has been recorded from the departments of Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Río San Juan (Köhler, 2001; Gómez et al., 2011). Additionally, Bezy (1989) and Bezy and Camarillo (2002) included AMNH 16402 from Tule or Tuli Creek in the department of Chontales, whereas Köhler (2001) regarded this specimen as from the department of Río San Juan. Although Tule is a locality in each of these adjacent departments, the Rivas locality represents the westernmost record for this species in Nicaragua.

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Fig. 2. (A) A juvenile male and an adult female and (B) the same adult female of Diploglossus monotropis from the department of Atlántico Sur; (C) Basiliscus vittatus from the department of Rivas; (D) Norops oxylophus from the department of Rivas; (E) Marisora alliacea from the department of Atlántico Sur; (F) Polychrus gutturosus from the department of Atlántico Norte; (G) Aspidoscelis motaguae from the department of Madriz; and (H) Lepidophyma flavimaculatum from the department of Rivas. ' © José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca (C, D, G, H) and Milton Salazar-Saavedra (A, B, E, F)

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Acknowledgments.––Collecting and exportation permits were provided by the personnel of MARENA (Ministerio del Ambiente y los Recursos Naturales), Managua, Nicaragua. We thank Lenin A. Obando, Liliana Solano, Luis Gutiérrez-López, Daniel Urbina, José Antonio Orozco, Arcadio Gómez, Juan Mena, Abigail Arauz- Jirón, Kirsten E. Nicholson, John G. Phillips, and Jenny A. Gubler, for field assistance. We also thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher numbers.

Literature Cited

Bezy, R. L. 1989. Morphological differentiation in unisexual and Ruiz, J. E., A. Gutiérrez, and O. Flóres Rocha. 2016. Nuevo reg- bisexual Xantusiid lizards of the genus Lepidophyma in Cen- istro de la Iguanita de Bosque, Polychrus gutturosus Berthold, tral America. Herpetological Monographs 3: 61–80. 1846 para la región de Santo Domingo (Chontales) Nicaragua. Bezy, R. L. and J. L. Camarillo R. 2002. Systematics of Xan- Cuadernos de Herpetología 30: 39–40. tusiid lizards of the genus Lepidophyma. Contributions in Sabaj-Pérez, M. H. (Ed.). 2013. Standard symbolic codes for Science 493: 1–41. institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthy- Gómez, M. J., I. Gutiérrez, T. Benjamin, F. Casanoves, and F. ology: an Online Reference. Version 4.0. American Society of DeClerck. 2011. Conservación y conocimiento local de la Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Washington, D.C., United herpetofauna en un paisaje ganadero. Avances de Investi- States. (www.asih.org). gación. Agroforestería en las Américas 48: 65–75. Salazar, M., C. Gómez-Fuentes, H. Salgado, P. Torres, and A. HerpetoNicas. 2015. Guía Ilustrada de Anfibios y Reptiles de Gutiérrez. 2009. Anfibios y Reptiles de Chacocente. Flora y Nicaragua. Dirección de Biodiversidad/MARENA, Mana- Fauna Internacional. Proyecto zonas costeras. Flora & Fauna gua, Nicaragua. International, Managua, Nicaragua. Holdridge, L. R. 1967. Life Zone Ecology. Revised ed. Tropical Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: Science Center, San José, Costa Rica. A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United Köhler, G. 2001. Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua. Herpeton, States. Offenbach, Germany. Sunyer, J., and G. Köhler. 2010. Conservation status of the her- Köhler, G., M. Salazar-Saavedra, J. Martínez, G. Lopez, and J. petofauna of Nicaragua. Pp. 488–509 In L.D. Wilson, J. H. Sunyer. 2013. First record of Aspidoscelis motaguae (Sack- Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Meso- ett, 1941) (Reptilia: Squamata: Teiidae) from Nicaragua. american Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publish- Check List 9: 475. ing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. Köhler, G., A. Schulze, and M. Veselý. 2005. Morphological Sunyer, J., T. W. Pierson, M. F. Ubeda-Olivas, and T. J. Papenfuss. variation in Norops capito (Peters, 1863), a wide-spread 2015. Geographic Distribution. Marisora alliacea (Costa species in southeastern Mexico and Central America. Sala- Rican Four-lined Skink). Herpetological Review 46: 384. mandra 41: 129–136. Villa, J. D. 1971. Notes on some Nicaraguan reptiles. Journal of Herpetology 5: 45–48.

Javier Sunyer1,2, José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca2,3, and Milton Salazar-Saavedra1,2,4

1Museo Herpetológico de la UNAN-León (MHUL), Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León, León, Nicaragua. 2Grupo HerpetoNica (Herpetólogos de Nicaragua), Nicaragua. 3Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-Managua (UNAN-Managua), Managua, Nicaragua. 4Red Mesoamericana y del Caribe para la Conservación de Anfibios y Reptiles. E-mails: [email protected] (Corresponding Author); [email protected]; and [email protected]

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Reptilia: Squamata (snakes) Noteworthy records of snakes of the Lampropeltis mexicana complex from northeastern Mexico

The geographic distribution of kingsnakes in the Lampropeltis mexicana complex in Mexico remains poorly known. Species in this complex range across rocky regions of the Chihuahuan Desert, Central Mexican Plateau, Sierra Madre Occidental, and northern Sierra Madre Oriental. Over the past decade, several reports have enhanced our knowledge of the distribution of these snakes in Mexico (Ingrasci et al., 2008; Farr et al., 2009; Hansen and Bryson, 2009; Savage and Hansen, 2009; Ahumada-Carrillo et al., 2011; Hansen et al., 2011; Roth-Monzón et al., 2011; Price et al., 2012; Ahumada-Carrillo et al., 2014; Carbajal-Márquez and Quintero-Díaz, 2014; Hansen et al., 2015; Hernández-Melo and Fernández-Badillo, 2015; Terán-Juárez et al., 2015; Grünwald et al., 2016; Hansen et al., 2016). Here we present new records for two species in the complex, L. alterna and L. mexicana, from the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico. We follow the most recent taxonomy for the L. mexicana complex (Bryson et al., 2007). Previous studies, however, allocated L. mexicana from Coahuila and Nuevo León to the subspecies L. m. thayeri (Gehlbach, 1967; Hilken and Schlepper, 1998). We determined the geocoordinates using map datum WGS 84. The museum acronyms follow Sabaj (2016).

Lampropeltis alterna: NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio de Hidalgo, Sierra El Fraile y San Miguel, Potrero Chico (25.949634°N, 100.476592°W); elev. 710 m; 8 June 2013; Adriana González-Martínez. Photo voucher TNHC 100686 (Fig. 1A). The snake was active during the day and photographed by rock climbers. This voucher represents a new municipality record.

Lampropeltis alterna: NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio de Bustamante, Cañón de Bustamante (26.549595°N, 100.579611°W); elev. 521 m; 22 May 2016; Manuel Nevárez-de los Reyes; UANL 7662 (Fig. 1B). Camino de las Grutas (26.502450°N, 100.526222°W); elev. 840 m; 2 July 2016; Manuel Nevárez-de los Reyes; UANL 7672 (Fig. 1C). These specimens, both from the Sierra Gomas, represent a new municipality record and the northernmost records for this species in Nuevo León. Both collection sites are located in steep, rocky terrain within a submontane shrub (matorral) plant community. At the first site, the characteristic vegetation consists of Populus nigra, Salix sp., Prosopis glandulosa, and Acacia farnesiana. The dominant vegetation at the second locality includes Acacia rigida, Fraxinus greggi, and Helietta parvifolia.

Lampropeltis alterna: NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio de García, vic. of Industrias del Alcali (25.758655°N, 100.558685°W); elev. 724 m; 13 June 2014; Iván Sánchez-Montiel; UANL 7405 (Fig. 1D). This specimen represents a new municipality record.

Lampropeltis cf. mexicana: COAHUILA: Municipio de Saltillo, ca. 1.0 map km SW of Jagüey de Ferniza (25.222670°N, 101.045218°W); elev. 2,024 m; 16 July 2016; Arturo Cruz-Anaya; Photo voucher TNHC 100687 (Fig. 1E). This voucher, a field photo of a live snake partly obscured by vegetation, represents a new municipality record. Based on the dorsal pattern of the snake, we provisionally assign this individual to L. mexicana. Although a pattern of black-bordered orange blotches is found in both L. alterna and L. mexicana, the brown ground color is a better fit for the latter rather than regionally proximate L. alterna. The habitat consists of scrub dominated by Larrea tridentata, and was bordered by a cultivated area. Additional material from this area is necessary to confirm the identification of the species.

Lampropeltis mexicana: COAHUILA: Municipio de Saltillo: Mina de La Lechuza, Ejido Cuauhtémoc, Sierra Zapalinamé (25.279037°N, 100.956886°W); elev. 2,283 m; 28 July 2016; Javier Banda-Leal and Arturo Cruz- Anaya; UANL 7693 (Fig. 1F). This specimen represents the second record for the municipality of Saltillo, and the first documented example of a melanistic individual found in the wild. Although anecdotal field reports exist for melanistic specimens from Nuevo León, and the genetic basis for melanism in captive L. mexicana is well known (Osborne, 1983), there are no melanistic specimens in museum collections and the geographic distribution of melanistic phenotypes is unknown. The collection site is located within an open pine forest with Agave, Hechtia, and Opuntia.

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Lampropeltis mexicana: COAHUILA: Municipio de Arteaga, Carretera entronque a El Diamante (25.367818°N, 100.814711°W); elev. 2,025 m; 13 September 2016; Arturo Cruz Anaya; UANL 7705 (Fig. 1G). this specimen represents the third record from the municipality of Arteaga (Garstka, 1982), which spans an extensive area and range of habitats in the northern Sierra Madre Oriental.

Fig. 1. Records of the Lampropeltis mexicana complex from northeastern Mexico: (A) L. alterna (TNHC 100686) from Sierra El Fraile y San Miguel, Potrero Chico, Municipio de Hidalgo, Nuevo León; (B, C) L. alterna (UANL 7662, 7672) from Sierra Gomas, Municipio de Bustamante, Nuevo León; (D) L. alterna (UANL 7405) from vic. of Industrias del Alcali, Municipio de García, Nuevo León; (E) L. mexicana (TNHC 100687) from ca. 1.0 km (by air) SW of Jagüey de Ferniza, Municipio de Saltillo, Coahuila; (F) L. mexicana, melanistic phenotype (UANL 7693) from Sierra Zapalinamé, Municipio de Saltillo, Coahuila; and (G) L. mexicana (UANL 7705) from Municipio de Arteaga, Coahuila. ' © Adriana González-Martínez (A), Manuel Nevárez-de los Reyes (B, C, and F), Robert W. Bryson, Jr. (D), and Arturo Cruz-Anaya (E, G)

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Acknowledgments.—We thank the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Programa de Apoyo a la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica [PAICYT CN315-15]) for support, and Arturo Cruz-Anaya, Jonathan Campbell, Joseph Forks, and Gerry Salmon for assistance. Travis LaDuc processed the photo vouchers at TNHC. Fieldwork was partly funded by a grant (No. 445411) to MNR by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT). Field research and specimen collection were conducted under permits SGPA/DGVS/08371/16 and SGPA/DGVS/08377/16 from 11 August 2016, issued to David Lazcano by Dirección General de Vida Silvestre of the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT).

Literature Cited

Ahumada-Carrillo, I. T., O. Vázquez-Huizar, J. Vázquez-Diaz, Hansen, R. W., R. Hernández-Arciga, and R. F. Savage. 2015. and U. O. Vázquez-García. 2011. Geographic Distribution. Geographic Distribution. Lampropeltis ruthveni (Ruthven’s Noteworthy records of amphibians and reptiles from Zacate- Kingsnake). Herpetological Review 46: 574. cas, México. Herpetological Review 43: 397–398. Hansen, R. W., L. Fernández-Badillo, A. Ramírez-Bautista, and Ahumada-Carrillo, I. T., N. Pérez Rivera, J. Reyes-Velasco, C. O. Avalos- Torales. 2016. Geographic Distribution: Lam- I. Grünwald, and J. M. Jones. 2014. Geographic Distribu- propeltis mexicana (Mexican Kingsnake). Herpetological tion. Notable records of amphibians and reptiles from Coli- Review 47: 262–263. ma, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Zacatecas, México. Herpetological Hernández-Melo, J. A., and L. Fernández-Badillo. 2015. Lam- Review 45: 287–291. propeltis ruthveni (Blanchard, 1920): Mexico: Hidalgo. Dis- Bryson, R. W., Jr., J. Pastorini, F. T. Burbrink, and M. R. J. tribution Notes. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: 545–546. Forstner. 2007. A phylogeny of the Lampropeltis mexicana Hilken, G., and R. Schlepper. 1998. Der Lampropeltis mexi- complex (Serpentes: Colubridae) based on mitochondrial cana-Komplex (Serpentes, Colubridae): naturgeschichte und DNA sequences suggests evidence for species-level poly- terrarienhaltung. Salamandra 34: 97–127. phyly within Lampropeltis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Ingrasci, M. J., K. Setser, and J. Reyes-Velasco. 2008. Geographic Evolution 43: 674–684. Distribution. Lampropeltis alterna (Gray-banded Kingsnake). Carbajal-Márquez, R. A., and G. E. Quintero-Díaz. 2014. Herpetological Review 39: 371–372. Natural History Notes. Lampropeltis mexicana (Mexican Osborne, S. T. 1983. Life History Notes. Lampropeltis mexicana Kingsnake). Maximum elevation. Herpetological Review thayeri (Gray-banded Kingsnake). Coloration. Herpetological 45: 711. Review 14: 120. Farr, W. L., D. Lazcano, and P. A. Lavín-Murcio. 2009. Geo- Price, M. S., C. R. Harrison, and D. Lazcano. 2012. Geographic graphic Distribution. New distributional records for amphib- Distribution. Lampropeltis alterna (Gray-banded Kingsnake). ians and reptiles from the state of Tamaulipas, México II. Herpetological Review 43: 106. Herpetological Review 40: 459–467. Roth-Monzón, A. J., A. A. Mendoza-Hernández, and O. A. Garstka, W. R. 1982. Systematics of the mexicana species group Flores-Villela. 2011. Lampropeltis ruthveni (Serpentes: of the colubrid genus Lampropeltis, with an hypothesis [of] Colubridae) from the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Southwestern mimicry. Breviora 466: 1–35. Naturalist 56: 430–431. Gehlbach, F. R. 1967. Lampropeltis mexicana (Garman): Sabaj, M. H. 2016. Standard symbolic codes for institutional Gray-banded Kingsnake. Catalogue of American Amphibi- resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology: An ans and Reptiles 55.1–55.2. Online Reference. Version 6.5 American Society of Ichthy- Grünwald, C. I., N. Pérez-Rivera, I. Trinidad Ahumada-Car- ologists and Herpetologists, Washington, DC, United States. rillo, H. Franz-Chávez, and B. T. La Forest. 2016. Geo- (www.asih.org; accessed 16 August 2016). graphic Distribution. New distributional records for the Savage, R., and R. W. Hansen. 2009. Geographic Distribution. herpetofauna of Mexico. Herpetological Review 47: 85–90. Lampropeltis mexicana. Herpetological Review 40: 114–115. Hansen, R. W., and R. W. Bryson, Jr. 2009. Geographic Dis- Terán-Juárez, S. A., E. García-Padilla, F. E. Leyto-Delgado, and tribution. Lampropeltis mexicana (Mexican Kingsnaske). L. J. García-Morales. 2015. Distribution Notes. New records Herpetological Review 40: 114. and distributional range extensions for amphibians and rep- Hansen, R. W., C. M. Rodriguez, and C. I. Grünwald. 2011. tiles from Tamaulipas, Mexico. Mesoamerican Herpetology Geographic Distribution. Lampropeltis mexicana (Mexican 2: 208–214. Kingsnaske). Herpetological Review 42: 243.

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Manuel Nevárez-de los Reyes1, Javier Banda-Leal1, David Lazcano1, Robert W. Bryson, Jr.2, and Robert W. Hansen3

1Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Laboratorio de Herpetología, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico. E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] 2Department of Biology and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington 98195-1800, United States; and Moore Laboratory of Zoology, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, California 90041, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 316333 Deer Path Lane, Clovis, California 93619-9735, United States. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author)

Family: Colubridae Stenorrhina freminvillii (Duméril, Bribon and Duméril, 1854). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de San Bartolo Coyotepec, Paraje El Palenque (16°56'51.4"N, 96°40'31.7"W; datum WGS 84), elev. ca. 1,600 m; 20 March 2016; Pablo R. Simón-Salvador. The snake, an adult male (Fig. 1), was found in riparian vegetation. A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.34). This voucher (Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, and fills a gap between the closest reported localities at ca. 16 km to the N (airline distance) in the vicinity of Agencia de San Luis Beltrán, Municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez, and at ca. 43 km to the ESE (airline distance) in the vicinity of Hierve El Agua, Municipio de San Lorenzo de Albarradas (García-Padilla and Mata-Silva, 2014).

Fig. 1. An adult Stenorrhina freminvillii (UTEP G-2016.34) from Paraje El Palenque, Municipio de San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Pablo R. Simón-Salvador

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Arthur Harris for kindly providing the photo voucher number.

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Literature Cited

García-Padilla, e., and V. Mata-Silva. 2014. Geographic Distribution. Noteworthy distributional records for the herpetofauna of Oaxaca, México. Herpetological Review 45: 468–469.

Pablo R. Simón-Salvador1, Elí García-Padilla2, Vicente Mata-Silva3, and Larry David Wilson4

1Laboratorio de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, C. P. 68000, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] 4Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Tantilla rubra Cope, 1863. MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, near El Obispo (16.175215°N, -97.322873°W; WGS 84), elev. 1,216 m.; 16 June 2016. Vicente Mata-Silva, Dominic, L. DeSantis, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson. The specimen (CIB-5036) was found dead on road through pine- oak forest, and is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. This snake (female, snout– vent length = 235 mm, tail length = 21 mm; Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, and fills a gap between the closest reported localities at ca. 24.7 km to the E in the vicinity of Santa Rosa, Municipio de San Juan Lachao (UCM-52611–12) and ca. 339 km to the WNW in a locality described as “11.3 mi (= 18.1 km) NE Atoyac, on road to Puerto del Gallo, Fig. 1. An adult Tantilla rubra (CIB-5036) from near El Obispo, Municipio Sierra Madre del Sur” (MVZ 17193); de Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico. both localities are listed in Wilson ' © Vicente Mata-Silva and Mata-Silva (2014).

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Literature Cited

Wilson, L. D., and V. Mata-Silva. 2014. Snakes of the genus Tantilla (Squamata: Colubridae) in Mexico: taxonomy, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 5–95.

Vicente Mata-Silva1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, Larry David Wil- son3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

1Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected] 4Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Colonia Carboneras, C. P. 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

Family Dipsadidae

Coniophanes fissidens (Günther, 1858). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, 2.6 km SSW of Zacatepec (16.117266°N, -97.377425°W; WGS 84), elev. 419 m.; 16 June 2016; Vicente Mata-Silva, Dominic, L. DeSantis, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson. The specimen (CIB- 5035) was found dead on road across remnants of tropical dry forest, and is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. This snake (female; snout–vent length = 298 mm; tail length = 41 mm; Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, with the closest reported locality ca. 33 km to the E in the vicinity of San Juan Lachao, Municipio de San Juan Lachao (Mata-Silva et al., This Issue). Fig. 1. A Coniophanes fissidens (CIB-5035) from 2.6 km SSW of Zacatepec, Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

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Literature Cited

Mata-Silva, V., A. Rocha, D. L. DeSantis, E. García-Padilla, and L. D. Wilson. 2016. Nature Notes. Micrurus browni Schmidt and Schmidt, 1943. Diet. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 1,020–1,021.

Vicente Mata-Silva1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, and Larry David Wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

1Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected] 4Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Colonia Carboneras, C. P. 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

Tropidodipsas sartorii (Cope, 1863). MEXICO: HIDALGO: Municipio de Metztitlán (20.47684ºN, -98.67752ºW; WGS 84) elev. 1,315 m; 22 June 2016; Guillermo Sánchez-Martínez. The specimen (CH-CIB 5027) was found dead on a road through xeric scrub and donated to the Herpetological Collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. It represents a new record for the municipality and for the Reserva de la Biósfera Barranca de Metztitlán, with the closest known locality ca. 46.38 km to the SE (airline distance) in the vicinity Tetipanchalco, Municipio de Molango de Escamilla (Juárez-Escamilla, 2016). This species is uncommon in areas of Meztitlán where walnuts are grown, but is abundant in other municipalities (e.g., Ixmiquilpan) that contain alfalfa fields. Acknowledgments.––We thank Ferdinand Torres Angeles for fixing the specimen and Diego Juárez Escamilla, for providing the collecting data from the Molango de Escamilla’s specimen. We also are grateful to SEMARNAT for the collecting permit (FAUT-0052) provided to Irene Goyenchea.

Literature Cited

Juárez-Escamilla, J. D. 2016. Diversidad de Anfibios y Reptiles en Bosques y Potreros del Municipio de Molango de Escamilla, Hidalgo, México. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico.

Leonardo Fernández-Badillo1, 2, Guillermo Sánchez-Martínez 2, 3, and Irene Goyenechea4 1Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (LFB, Corresponding author). 2Predio Intensivo de Manejo de Vida Silvestre X-Plora Reptilia, Carretera Mexico-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlan, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Unidad de Manejo para la Conservación de la Vida Silvestre (UMA) Santa Ana, Carretera Mexico-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlan, Hidalgo, Mexico. 4Laborartorio de Sistemática Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

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Family Elapidae

Micrurus browni Cope, 1863. MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, near Santa Catarina Juquila (16.237544°N, -97.266829°W; datum WGS 84), elev. 1,582 m; 27 June 2016; Vicente Mata-Silva and Arturo Rocha. A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.36, Fig. 1A). Another Micrurus browni (Fig. 1B) was found in the town of Pie del Cerro, in the same municipality (16.098357°N, -97.396050°W; WGS 84), elev. 128 m.; 24 June 2016; Vicente Mata-Silva and Arturo Rocha. The specimen (CIB-5034) is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

Fig. 1. Adult Micrurus browni: (A) from near Santa Catarina Juquila (UTEP G-2016.36), and (B) from Pie del Cerro (CIB- 5034, B), both in Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

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Both snakes were found dead on paved roads, and represent new records for the municipality. These records fill a gap between the closest reported localities at ca. 23 km SE and 35 km E (from near Santa Catarina and Pie del Cerro, respectively) from several records in the municipality of San Juan Lachao, Oaxaca (Mata-Silva et al., This Issue; UCM 40079–40082, 41228, 52519–52522, 52524, 52526, 52569, 52570, 52613, www.vernet.org; accessed 1 November 2016), and ca. 80 km to the NW in a locality reported as “46 km S of Putla (= Putla de Guerrero),” (MVZ 106869; www.vernet.org; accessed 1 November 2016). The habitat near Santa Catarina Juquila consists of fragmented pine-oak forest, and that of Pie del Cerro is comprised of secondary tropical dry forest and pastureland.

Acknowledgments. ––A special thanks goes to Eduardo Mata-Silva for his invaluable assistance in the field, and to the Bolán-Mata family for their great hospitality. We also thank Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, Christian Berriozabal- Islas, and José Daniel Lara-Tufiño for logistical support. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to ARB with extensions to VMS, AR, EGP, DLD, and LDW. Irene G. Mayer-Goyenechea kindly provided the specimen number, and Arthur Harris the photo voucher number.

Literature Cited

Mata-Silva, V., A. Rocha, D. L. DeSantis, E. García-Padilla, L. D. Wilson, and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2016. Nature Notes. Micrurus browni Schmidt and Schmidt, 1943. Diet. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 1,020–1,021.

Vicente Mata-Silva1, Arturo Rocha1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Larry David Wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

1Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 2Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, México, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected] 4Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Colonia Carboneras, C. P. 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

Micrurus ephippifer (Cope, 1886). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, Carretera Oaxaca– Tuxtepec, km 198 (17°8'29.19"N, -96°37'1.00"W; datum WGS 84), elev. 2,251 m; 28 July 2016; Elí García-Padilla, Emiliano Méndez-Salinas, and Elfilia G. Sandoval. The specimen is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (CIB-5039). The individual was found at ca. 1630 h, and recently had been killed by workers removing roadside vegetation in an area of pine-oak forest. The specimen (Fig. 1) represents a municipality record, with the closest reported locality ca. 8.4 km to the WSW, at Cerro San Felipe, Agencia de San Felipe del Agua, Municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez (UCM-41229, www.vernet.org; accessed 2 August 2016).

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Fig. 1. A Micrurus ephippifer (CIB-5039) from Carretera Oaxaca-Tuxtepec km 198, Municipio de Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Elí García-Padilla

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista, Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, Christian Berriozabal-Islas, and José Daniel Lara-Tufiño for logistical support. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista, with extensions to VMS, EGP, DLD, and LDW. Irene G. Mayer-Goyenechea kindly provided the voucher number.

Elí García-Padilla1, Emiliano Méndez-Salinas2, Elfilia García-Sandoval3, Vicente Mata-Silva4, Dominic L. DeSantis4, and Larry David Wilson5

1Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Camino Real #298, El Faisán, Villa de Santiago, N.L. 67300, Mexico E-mail: [email protected] 3Calle: Constitución #106 Barrio San Antonio, Tlalixtac de Cabrera, Oaxaca, C. P. 68270, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 4Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] 5Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Family Viperidae Bothriechis schlegelii (Berthold, 1845). NICARAGUA: BOACO: Municipio de Camoapa, southern slope of Cerro Masigüe, Finca Santa Elena (12.53579°N, 85.35665°W; WGS 84); elev. 550 m; 23 September 2016; Lenin Alexander Obando. A photo voucher of this individual is deposited at The University of Texas at Arlington Collection of Vertebrates Digital Collection (UTADC-8765; Fig. 1A.). The viper was found during the day ca. 0.5 m above the ground on the trunk of a tree in a young cacao plantation located in disturbed Lowland Moist Forest (Fig. 1B; Holdridge, 1967; Savage, 2002). This locality represents a new record for the department of Boaco. In Nicaragua, this relatively common species has been recorded from the following departments: Atlántico Norte, Atlántico Sur, Chontales, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Río San Juan (Günther, 1895; Boulenger, 1896; Villa, 1984; Köhler, 2001).

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1064 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Distribution Notes

Fig. 1. (A) Closeup of a Bothriechis schlegelii from Finca Santa Elena, Departamento de Boaco, Nicaragua; and (B) an in situ photograph of the snake. ' © Lenin Alexander Obando

Acknowledgments.––We thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher number.

Literature Cited

Boulenger G. A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Köhler, G. 2001. Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua. Herpeton, Museum (Natural History). Volume III. Trustees of the Brit- Offenbach, Germany. ish Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885–1902. Reptilia and Batrachia. In O. A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. Salvin and F. D. Godman (Eds.), Biologia Centrali-Ameri- The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United cana. Taylor and Francis, London, United Kingdom. States. Holdridge, L. R. 1967. Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Cen- Villa, J. D. 1984. The venomous snakes of Nicaragua: a synopsis. ter, San José, Costa Rica. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 59: 1–41.

Lenin Alexander Obando1, and Javier Sunyer1, 2

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1065 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Distribution Notes

First report of Bothriechis schlegelii (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico

Bothriechis schlegelli is a widely distributed New World species of pitviper, with a distribution extending from northern Chiapas, Mexico, to northern Peru and western Venezuela; in Chiapas it has been reported from various localities in the state (Alvarez del Toro, 1982; Campbell and Lamar, 2004; Grünwald et al., 2016). Campbell and Lamar (2004) included southern Tabasco in the shaded portion of their distribution map, and while this species possibly occurs there, we are unaware of any specimens from that state. During a recent examination of specimens of Bothriechis from Mexico, DBW encountered a specimen of B. schlegelii from Oaxaca in the collection at the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History (UIMNH). Since this species has not been reported from Oaxaca and is not considered part of the state’s herpetofauna (Köhler, 2008; Johnson et al., 2010, Mata-Silva et al., 2015; Schätti and Stutz, 2016), we report this specimen below.

Bothriechis schlegelii (Berthold 1846). MEXICO: OAXACA: Municipio de Santa María Chimalapa, “near La Gloria” probably Rancho La Gloria (16.803972°N, -94.609012°W); elev. 520 m; 12 January 1950; Thomas B. MacDougall. The specimen (UIMNH 27839), an adult female, represents the first record of B. schlegelii from the state of Oaxaca, and extends the known distribution 93 km to the west W of the nearest record at Selvas de Mercadito, Municipio de Cintalapa, Chiapas (Alvarez del Toro, 1982). This record suggests the continuous distribution of this species along the Atlantic piedmont of southeastern Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, lends credibility to the species occurring in southern Tabasco, as well as its possible occurrence in extreme southeastern Veracruz. To our knowledge this species has not been collected in either state, but we stress the potential for students of herpetology to search for B. schlegelii in those areas.

Fig 1. (A, B) Dorsal and lateral views of an adult female Bothriechis schlegelii from “near La Gloria,” Municipio de María Chimalapa, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Daniel B. Wylie

Acknowledgments.—We thank the late Thomas B. MacDougall for his extraordinary field collecting activities and for his insurmountable contributions to the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History Collection. We also are grateful to Jacobo Reyes-Velasco for verifying the identification of the specimen.

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Literature Cited

Alvarez del Toro, M. 1982. Los Reptiles de Chiapas. 3rd ed. Johnson, J. D., V. Mata-Silva, and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2010. Gobierno del Estado, Publicación del Instituto de Historia Geographic distribution and conservation of the herpetofauna Natural del Estado, Departamento de Zoología, Tuxtla Guti- of southeastern Mexico. Pp. 322–369 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. érrez, Chiapas, Mexico. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Meso- Berthold, A. A. 1846. Über verschiedene neue oder seltene Rep- american Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publish- tilien aus New Granada und Crustacien aus China. Abhan- ing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. dlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, 3: 3–32. Offenbach, Germany. Campbell, J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles Mata-Silva, V., J. D. Johnson, L. D. Wilson, and E. García- of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: com- ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, position, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. United States. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: 5–62. Grünwald, C. I., N. Pérez-Rivera, I. T. Ahumada-Carrillo, H. Schätti, B., and A. Stutz. 2016. A short account of the snakes of Franz-Chávez, and B. T. La Forest. 2016. Geographic Dis- southern Oaxaca, Mexico. Published by the authors, Oaxaca tribution. New distributional records for the herpetofauna of de Juárez, Mexico. 40 pp. Mexico. Herpetological Review 47: 85–90.

Daniel B. Wylie1 and Christoph I. Grünwald2,3,4

1Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820, United States. 2Biencom Real Estate, Carretera Chapala - Jocotepec #57-1, C.P. 45920, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Biodiversa A. C., Avenida de la Ribera #203, C.P. 45900, Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. 4Herpetological Conservation International, Mesoamerica Division, 450 Jolina Way, Encinitas, California 92024, United States.

Crotalus culminatus (Klauber, 1952). MEXICO: ESTADO DE MÉXICO: Municipio de Tonatico, San Miguel Tonatico, Parque Niltze (18.786°N, -99.6701°W; datum WGS 84); elev. 1,591 m; March 2016; Luis Pera-Gómez. A subadult individual was found along the entrance of a rural home, with the surrounding habitat consisting of Juniperus flaccida trees in disturbed tropical deciduous forest. A photo voucher of the snake was deposited in The University of Texas at Arlington Collection of Vertebrates Digital Collection (UTADC-8747, Fig. 1). This voucher represents the third verified record for the state and first for the municipality of Tonatico, and extends the known distribution of this species ca. 24.2 km to the SW (airline distance) from the nearest locality at Ciudad de Malinalco (Peralta-Fonseca and García-Padilla, 2015), and fills a distributional hiatus of 100.3 km between the Malinalco and the Tejupilco records in the Sierra de Nanchichitla (Casas-Andreu and Aguilar-Miguel, 2005). Crotalus culminatus is widely distributed in southwestern Mexico from southern Michoacán to about the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, particularly along semiarid and arid regions in dry tropical forest, thorn woodland, arid scrub forest, and limestone outcroppings in more mesic forests (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). These habitats are extensive throughout much of the Depresión del Balsas region, near our record, but many areas in the vicinity lack records for this or other herpetofaunal species.

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Fig. 1. A subadult Crotalus culminatus (UTADC-8747), found in Parque Niltze, Municipio de Tonatico, Estado de México, Mexico. ' © J. Diego Arias-Montiel

Acknowledgments.––We thank Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher number, and Luis Pera- Gómez and Cristina Leticia Delgado-Ayala for their assistance and hospitality during our fieldwork.

Literature Cited

Campbell J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles Lista, distribución y conservación. Ciencia Ergo Sum 12: of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- 44–53. ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, Peralta-Fonseca, Z. A., and E. García-Padilla. 2015. Distribution United States. Notes. Crotalus culminatus (Klauber, 1952). Mesoamerican Casas-Andreu, G., and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2005. Herpetofauna Herpetology 2: 208. del Parque Sierra de Nanchititla, estado de México, México.

Ricardo Palacios-Aguilar1, Thalia E. Cruz-Machuca2,3, and J. Diego Arias-Montiel3

1Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. A.P. 70- 399, México D.F., C. P. 04510, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Laboratorio de Ecología, UBIPRO, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 314, Tlalnepantla, 54090 México, Mexico. 3Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Av. de los Barrios, CP. 54090, Tlalnepantla de Baz, Estado de México, Mexico.

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Ophryacus undulatus (Jan, 1859). MEXICO: OAXACA. Municipio de San Agustín Etla, Paraje Mano de León (17°12'37.7"N, 96°41'25.2"W; WGS 84), elev. ca. 2,200 m; 16 October 2015; Francisco Ramírez-Jiménez. The snake (Fig. 1) was found on a log in an ecotone consisting of tropical deciduous forest and oak forest. A photograph of this individual is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Vertebrate Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.35). This voucher (Fig. 1) represents a new municipality record, with the closest reported localities ca. 12 km to the S (airline distance) in Cerro de San Felipe near Oaxaca de Juarez (Lynch and Smith 1966), and ca. 10 km to the E (airline distance) at 25 km NE of Ciudad de Oaxaca (KU 116949; www.herpnet.org; accessed 28 October 2016).

Fig. 1. Ophryacus undulatus (UTEP G-2016.35) from Paraje Mano de León, Municipio de San Agustín Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Francisco Ramírez-Jiménez

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks goes to Arthur Harris for kindly providing the photo voucher number.

Literature Cited

Lynch, J. D., and H. M. Smith. 1966. New or unusual amphibians and reptiles from Oaxaca, Mexico. II. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 69: 57–75.

Francisco Ramírez-Jiménez1, Pablo R. Simón-Salvador2, Elí García-Padilla3, Vicente Mata-Silva4, and Larry David Wilson5

1Calle Cruz del Río, Fraccionamiento Santa Cruz Amilpas, C. P. 71226, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Laboratorio de Investigación en Reproducción Animal, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, C. P. 68000, Oaxaca, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 3Calle Hidalgo, Colonia Santa Úrsula Coapa, Delegación Coyoacán, C. P. 04700, D.F., Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 4Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968-0500, United States. E-mail: [email protected] 5Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered frog, Craugastor angelicus, in Costa Rica

Craugastor angelicus (Savage, 1975) has been rediscovered in the Cordillera de Tilarán, Provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica, at an elevation of ca. 1,550 m. Along with my wife, Aura Reyes, we discovered a single adult male C. angelicus (Fig. 1) in July of 2016, during one of our regular amphibian surveys in the country. We found the individual at night while making a random stop along the road between Santa Elena de Monteverde and San Gerardo to listen to anuran vocalizations. The C. angelicus was not heard vocalizing, but was observed on the gravel substrate along the edge of the road. The frog was collected and deposited in the taxonomic reference collection of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center (CRARC 0243). This discovery comes more than two decades after the last reported observation of this species, which in recent years has been considered as possibly extinct (Pounds et al., 2008). Craugastor angelicus is endemic to Costa Rica, with populations recorded from the Cordillera de Guanacaste (Cerro Cacao), the Cordillera de Tilarán, and the Cordillera Volcánica Central at elevations from 656 to 1,600 m (Savage, 2002). This species has been assigned to the Craugastor punctariolus species group, which is comprised of 34 species that are endemic to Central America (Chaves et al., 2014). Eight species from this group have been documented in Costa Rica, and all are believed to have suffered major declines, with seven of the eight species listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2016); extant populations of only three of the eight species native to Costa Rica (i.e., C. fleischmanni, C. ranoides, and C. taurus) were known to exist due to confirmed observations or collections made during the last decade (Puschendorf et al., 2005; Ryan et al., 2011; Chaves et al., 2014). Herein I confirm the presence of a fourth species (C. angelicus) in Costa Rica. Craugastor angelicus is distinguished from the other members of the C. punctariolus species group in lower Mesoamerica based on the presence of white nuptial pads and the absence of vocal slits (Savage, 1975, 2002). The male specimen we rediscovered displays white nuptial pads (Fig. 2) and lacks vocal slits, confirming its identification as C. angelicus according to our current taxonomic understanding of the C. punctariolus species group. Craugastor angelicus is one of two species in the C. punctariolus species group that has been documented to inhabit the Cordillera de Tilarán; the other species documented from this area is C. ranoides, but at elevations below 1,300 m (Savage, 2002).

Fig. 1. An adult male Craugastor angelicus (SVL 50.8 mm) Fig. 2. The white nuptial pad structure evident on discovered in the Cordillera de Tilarán, Provincia de Guanacaste, Finger I of the male Craugastor angelicus discovered Costa Rica, in July of 2016. ' © Brian Kubicki in the Cordillera de Tilarán, Provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in July of 2016. ' © Brian Kubicki

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Acknowledgments.––I collected the specimen under scientific collecting permit SINAC-SE-CUS- PI-R-058-2016, issued to me by the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE).

Literature Cited

Chaves, G., H. Zumbado-Ulate, A. García-Rodríguez, E. Gómez, Puschendorf, R., G. Chaves, A. J. Crawford, and D. R. Brooks. V. T. Vredenburg, and M. J. Ryan. 2014. Rediscovery of 2005. Natural History Notes. Eleutherodactylus ranoides the Critically Endangered streamside frog, Craugastor tau- (NCN). Dry forest population, refuge from decline? Herpeto- rus (Craugastoridae), in Costa Rica. Tropical Conservation logical Review 36: 53. Science 7: 628–638. Ryan, M.J., Bolaños, F., and Chaves, G. 2011. Museums help pri- IUCN 2016. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version oritize conservation goals. Science. 329(5,997): 1,272–1,273. 2016-2. (www.iucnredlist.org; accessed 1 October 2016). Savage, J. M. 1975. Systematics and distribution of the Mexican Pounds, J., F. Bolaños, and G. Chaves. 2008. Craugastor and Central American stream frogs related to Eleutherodacty- angelicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: lus rugulosus. Copeia: 254–306. e.T56418A11473990. (www.dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN. Savage, J. M. 1975. Systematics and distribution of the Mexican UK.2008.RLTS.T56418A11473990.en; accessed 1 October and Central American stream frogs related to Eleutherodacty- 2016). lus rugulosus. Copeia: 254–306.

Brian Kubicki

Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center, Guayacán, Provincia de Limón, Costa Rica. E-mail: [email protected]

Comments on the distribution and conservation of Morelet’s Leaf Frog, Agalychnis moreletii (Amphibia: Hylidae), in Oaxaca, Mexico

Agalychnis moreletti (Dumeril, 1853) is distributed in disjunct populations on the Atlantic versant from northeastern Puebla and southeastern Veracruz, Mexico, to northwestern Honduras, and on the Pacific versant from south-central Guerrero, Mexico, to central El Salvador, at elevations from 200 to 2,130 m (Köhler, 2011; Frost, 2016). On 17 June 2016 at 1940 h, we observed an adult female A. moreletii crossing Mexican federal highway 131 at ca. 1.7 km (straight line) SSW of San Gabriel Mixtepec, Municipio de San Gabriel Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico (16.079700ºN, -97.085831ºW; WGS 84), elev. ca. 781 m. The frog was found next to a small roadside stand of coffee trees, where we then found a single adult male. We returned to the same site on 19 June at 2200 h, and found four additional adult males calling from branches in coffee trees (Fig. 1). A photograph of one of these individuals is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Digital Collection (Photo Voucher UTEP G-2016.28). Agalychnis moreletii has been reported from several localities in Oaxaca: Campamento Vista Hermosa, K.U. (2, 1 tadpole); Mirador, A.M.N.H. (10); Nuevo Raza Zacatepec, U.I.M.N.H. (1); 28.2 km N of Pochutla, U.M.M.Z.; 7.1 km N of San Gabriel Mixtepec, U.T.A. (1); 13 km S of San Gabriel Mixtepec, U.S.N.M. (2, 1 egg, 1 tadpole*); 2 km S of Vista Hermosa, K.U. (23, 2 tadpoles, 2 eggs) (Duellman, 2001). Caldwell (1974) also reported A. moreletii N of San Gabriel, in 1969 and 1970. This species, however, was not detected during surveys conducted by Lips et al. (2004) at the same localities in July of 2000. Consequently, Lips et al. (2004) suggested that A. moreletii potentially had been extirpated from the Sierra Madre del Sur in Oaxaca, and Guerrero, since it had not been collected in this region since 1984. Delia et al. (2013) reported rediscovering the species when they revisited the region in 2007. Additionally, Caviedes-Solis et al. (2015) reported finding A. moreletii in 2007 at Pluma Hidalgo, in the Sierra Madre del Sur, and Vázquez-Vega et al. (2015) also found this species in Pluma Hidalgo in 2008, and then

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1071 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes in San José Tenango in 2013 (a new locality), in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca. The locality we report here lies between two preexisting localities (7.1 km N of San Gabriel Mixtepec, and 13 km S of San Gabriel Mixtepec) reported by Duellman (2001). These recent discoveries of A. moreletii from historical localities, and new localities within its distribution, suggests that the species might be recovering from the declines reported in the 1970s and 80s, which were attributed to Batrachochytridium dendrobatidis infection and habitat loss. Although we view ongoing habitat loss as a se- rious problem throughout this region, it is encourag- ing to find a breeding colony of A. moreletii within modified habitat (coffee plantation and secondary forest). Currently, this species is categorized as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN, but it was Fig. 1. One of the adult Agalychnis moreletii (UTEP assigned a low Environmental Vulnerability Score (= G-2016.28) found ca. 1.7 km (straight line) SSW of San 7) by Wilson et al. (2013) based on geographic dis- Gabriel Mixtepec, Municipio de San Gabriel Mixtepec, tribution, habitat characteristics of reported localities, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva and reproductive mode. This species was not assigned a conservation status by SEMARNAT (2010).

Acknowledgments.––A special thanks to Eduardo Mata-Silva for his invaluable assistance in the field, to the Bolán-Mata family for their great hospitality, and to Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista, Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, and Christian Berriozabal-Islas for logistical support. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista with extensions to VMS, AR, EGP, DLD, and LDW. Arthur Harris kindly provided the photo voucher number.

Literature Cited

Caldwell, J. P. 1974. Tropical Treefrog Communities: Patterns Köhler, G. 2011. Amphibians of Central America. Herpeton, of Reproduction Size, and Utilization of Structural Habitat. Offenbach, Germany. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Kansas, Law- Lips, K. R., J. R. Mendelson III, A. Muñoz-Alonso, L. Canseco- rence, Kansas, United States. Márquez, and D. G. Mulcahy. 2004. Amphibian population Caviedes-Solis, I. W., L. F. Vázquez-Vega, I. Solano-Savaleta, declines in montane southern Mexico: resurveys of historical E. Pérez-Ramos, S. M. Rovito, T. J. Devitt, P. Heimes, O. A. localities. Biological Conservation 119: 555–564. Flores-Villela, J. A. Campbell, and A. Nieto-Montes de Semarnat (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Natu- Oca. 2015. Everything is not lost: recent records, rediscov- rales). 2010. Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMAR- eries, and range extensions of Mexican hylid frogs. Meso- NAT-2010, protección ambiental-especies nativas de México american Herpetology 2: 230–241. de flora y fauna silvestre-categorías de riesgo y especifica- Delia, J. R. J., J. L. Whitney, and T. Burkhardt. 2013. Rediscov- ciones para su inclusión, exclusión o cambio-lista de especies ery of ‘lost’ treefrogs from Oaxacan highlands of Mexico. en riesgo. Diario Oficial de la Federación. México, Mexico. Biodiversity Conservation 22: 1,405–1,414. Vázquez-Vega, L. F., I. W. Caviedes-Solis, I. Solano-Zavelata, R. Duellman, W. E. 2001. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. 2nd Villegas-García, and O. A. Flores-Villela. 2015. Distribu- ed. 2 Volumes. Contributions to Herpetology, Volume 18, tion Notes. Agalychnis moreletii (Duméril, 1853). Mesoamer- Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, ican Herpetology 2: 538–539. New York, United States. Wilson, L. D., J. D. Johnson, and V. Mata-Silva. 2013. A conser- Frost, D. 2016. Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Ref- vation reassessment of the amphibians of Mexico based on erence. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, the EVS measure. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 7: New York, New York, United States. (www.research.amnh. 97–127. org/her[etology/amphibia/index/html; accessed 13 Novem- ber 2016).

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Vicente Mata-Silva1, Dominic L. DeSantis1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, Larry David Wil- son3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

Additional comments on the geographic distribution and conservation status of the recently rediscovered Voiceless Treefrog, Charadrahyla altipotens (Duellman 1968) from Oaxaca, Mexico

Long considered a rare species, C. altipotens is known from only a handful of localities along the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre del Sur and Montañas y Valles de Occidente physiographic regions in Oaxaca, Mexico (Duellman, 1970; Mata-Silva et al., 2015). Among the many cloud forest frog populations of southern Mexico (Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas) reported to be in severe decline by Lips et al. (2004), Charadrahyla altipotens was among those species considered to be possibly extinct (Stuart et al., 2008). This montane stream-breeding hylid had not been collected since 1970 (VertNet, 2016), presumably due to a population decline driven by a combination of habitat loss and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infections (Santos-Barrera and Canseco-Márquez, 2004). Recently, Barrios-Amoros et al. (2016) reported the rediscovery of this species with the finding of three adult individuals from three new localities, two in Municipio de San Pedro El Alto, and one in Municipio de San Agustín Loxicha, as well as “hundreds” of tadpoles that presumably were those of C. altipotens. Herein we report additional distribution and life history information for C. altipotens, and make additional comments regarding its conservation status. In June of 2016, we encountered three individuals of C. altipotens from two new localities in the Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico, both representing slight westward extensions from the type locality (Duellman, 1968; 37 km N (by road) San Gabriel Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico). On 16 June 2016 at 2311 h, we found a single adult female (Fig. 1) on the branch of a broadleaf tree overhanging a fast-flowing stream (Fig. 2). The stream intersects a road approximately 5.6 km E of the town of Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico (16.243931°N, -97.241367°W; elev. 1,995 m). This locality lies ca. 10 km W of a paratype locality and ca. 11 km WSW of the type locality. Our locality also represents an elevational extension for the species from 1,900 to 1,995 m. The individual was found approximately 2.5 m above the surface of the water, perched within 2 m of a calling male of another imperiled and recently rediscovered hylid, Plectrohyla hazelae (Heimes and Aguilar, 2011; Caviedes-Solis et al., 2015). In addition to this adult, on 16 and 18 June 2016 we encountered two juvenile C. altipotens (Fig. 3) on a paved road approximately 3.6 km (16.235620°N, -97.257109°W; 1,750 m) and 3.8 km E (16.236936°N, -97.255507°W; 1,794 m) of Santa Catarina Juquila. These two frogs likely were recent metamorphs, as the SVL of the individual we examined (19.0 mm) was similar to that of two metamorphs reared from tadpoles in captivity (17.5 and 19.7 mm) (Duellman, 1970). Both juveniles were found shortly after heavy rains in the area. The adult frog is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (CIB-5037) and a photograph of each of the two juveniles is deposited in the University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Collection (Photo Vouchers UTEP G-2016.26 and G-2016.27).

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Fig 1. Adult female Yellow-bellied Voiceless Treefrog (Charadrahyla altipotens; CIB-5037), from Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila, Oaxaca, Mexico. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

Fig 2. Habitat where an adult female Charadrahyla alitpotens was found. ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

During a study of hylid frogs in the Sierra Madre del Sur from September of 1969 to August of 1970, Caldwell (1974) documented most of what is known regarding the natural history of C. altipotens. During those surveys, adults and juveniles seldom were encountered away from streams, and no individuals were observed more than 120 cm from the water’s edge (Caldwell, 1974). Caldwell’s (1974) surveys also indicated that C. altipotens breeds during the dry season (November–May) with metamorphosis occurring during the rainy season (June–October), further corroborating our presumption that the juveniles we encountered on 16 and 18 June 2016 were recent

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1074 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes metamorphs. Interestingly, neither of the two juveniles reported here were found near streams, indicating that metamorphs might use frequent summer rains to facilitate dispersal across otherwise unfavorable habitats in search of new streamside haunts. The habitat where all three individuals were found was moderately- to heavily-disturbed montane pine-oak forest, with the adult being found in dense riparian streamside vegetation. The stream where the adult was collected was under anthropogenic pressure from logging on its banks and associated pollution from those activities (oil and gasoline in water, littered plastics, etc.). Santos-Barrera and Canseco-Márquez (2004) noted that the range of C. altipotens encompasses no protected areas, and in the light of this species’ recent rediscovery, increased efforts for the protection of the dwindling remaining habitat for this montane streamside specialist must occur. The discovery of this species in multiple new localities, as well as those reported here proximate to the type locality, is an encourag- ing sign that this species is persisting despite being found in unprotected and altered habitats. Currently, this species is assigned to the Critically Endangered (CR) threat category by the IUCN (Santos-Barrera and Canseco-Márquez, 2004), designated as Protected (Pr) by SEMARNAT (2010), and assessed as a species with medium environmental vulnerability (score = 12) with the EVS system (Wilson et al., 2013; Mata-Silva et al., 2015). Until further information regarding this species’ current geographic distribution is gathered, we recommend maintaining the current conservation statuses designated by both the IUCN and SEMARNAT systems. In addition to C. altipotens, we discovered breeding colonies of several other hylids of conservation concern in the same area, including P. hazelae, Ptychohyla leonhardshultzei, and Sarcohyla pentheter (DeSantis et al., This Issue). Thus, despite being modified by human activities and likely exposed to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Lips et al., 2004), the areas surrounding the town of Santa Catarina Juquila appear to allow for the persistence of seemingly sensitive cloud forest hylid populations. Further, this situation is illustrated by the recent rediscovery of breeding colonies of another “lost” hylid from near Santa Catarina Juquila, Plectrohyla thorectes (Caviedes-Solis et al., 2015). Lastly, the appropriately named Yellow-bellied Voiceless Treefrog (C. altipotens) lacks vocal slits and a vocal sac (Duellman, 1970), and the absence of conspicuously calling males might have contributed to the extensive period of time between the last known specimens and those recently reported by Barrios-Amorós et al., (2016) and herein. In support of the report by Delia et al. (2013), we further emphasize the value of continued survey efforts in areas of past occurrence for other “lost” anurans even when historical localities are under increasing human related pressures (Mata-Silva et al., 2015).

Fig 3. Two juvenile Charadrahyla alitpotens, found on a paved road in the Municipio de Santa Catarina Juquila on 16 (A) and 18 (B) June 2016 (UTEP G-2016.26 and G-2016-27, respectively). ' © Vicente Mata-Silva

Acknowledgments.––Our sincere gratitude to Eduardo Mata-Silva for assisting in the field; to the Bolán- Mata family for their great hospitality; to Raciel Crúz-Elizalde, and Christian Berriozabal-Islas for logistical support; and to William E. Duellman for species confirmation. The collecting permit (SGPA/DGVS/04287/16) was issued by SEMARNAT to ARB with extensions to DLD, VMS, EGP, AR, and LDW. Irene G. Mayer-Goyenechea kindly provided the specimen number, and Arthur Harris the photo voucher numbers.

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Literature Cited

Barrios-Amorós, C. L., U. O. García-Vásquez, M. Domínguez- Heimes, P., and R. Aguilar. 2011. Plectrohyla hazelae (Taylor, Laso, and A. Nieto-Montes de Oca. 2016. Charadrahyla 1940) not extinct. Herpetological Review 42: 41–42. altipotens (Anura: Hylidae), a Critically Endangered tree- Lips, K. R., J. R. Mendelson, III, A. Muñós-Alonzo, L. Canseco- frog rediscovered in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mesoamerican Her- Márquez, and D. G. Mulcahy. 2004. Amphibian populations petology 3: 787–790. decline in montane southern Mexico: resurveys of historical Caldwell, J. A. 1974. Tropical Treefrogs Communities: Patterns localities. Biological Conservation 119: 555–564. of Reproduction, Size, and Utilization of Structural Habitat. Mata-Silva, V., J. D. Johnson, L. D. Wilson, and E. García- Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Kansas, Law- Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: com- rence, Kansas, United States. position, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Caviedes-Solis, I. W., L. F. Vásquez-Vega, I. Solano-Zavaleta, Mesoamerican Herpetology 2: 6–62. E. Pérez-Ramos, S. M. Rovito, T. J. Devitt, P. Heimes, O. A. Santos-Barrera, G., and L. Canseco-Márquez. 2004. Charadra- Flores-Villela, J. A. Campbell, and A. Nieto-Montes de hyla altipotens. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Oca. 2015. Everything is not lost: recent records, rediscov- e.T55384A11288683. Version 2016-3. (www.iucnredlist.org; eries, and range extensions of Mexican hylid frogs. Meso- accessed 3 November 2016). american Herpetology 2: 230–241. Semarnat (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Natu- Delia, J. R., J. L. Whitney, and T. Burkhardt. 2013. Rediscovery rales). 2010. Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMAR- of ‘lost’ treefrogs from the Oaxacan highlands of Mexico. NAT-2010, protección ambiental-especies nativas de México Biodiversity Conservation 22: 1,405–1,414. de flora y fauna silvestre-categorías de riesgo y especifica- DeSantis, D. L., V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla, A. Rocha, ciones para su inclusión, exclusión o cambio-lista de especies L. D. Wilson, and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2016. Distribution en riesgo. Diario Oficial de la Federación, México, D.F., Notes. Sarcohyla pentheter (Adler, 1965). Mesoamerican Mexico. Herpetology 3: 1,073–1,076. Stuart, S. N., M. Hoffmann, J. S. Chanson, N. A. Cox, R. J. Duellman, W. E. 1968. Descriptions of new hylid frogs from Berridge, P. Ramani, and B. E. Young. 2008. Threatened Mexico and Central America. University of Kansas Publica- Amphibians of the World. Lynx Editions, Barcelona, Spain; tions, Museum of Natural History 17: 559–578. International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Duellman, W. E. 1970. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. 2 Switzerland; and Conservation International, Arlington, Vir- Volumes. Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, ginia, United States. The University of Kansas, Number 1, Lawrence, Kansas, VertNet. 2016. (www.vertnet.org; accessed 26 November 2016). United States. Wilson, L. D., J. D. Johnson, and V. Mata-Silva. 2013. A conser- Duellman, W. E. 2001. The Hylid Frogs of Middle America. 2nd vation reassessment of the amphibians of Mexico based on the ed. Contributions to Herpetology, Volume 18, Society for EVS measure. Special Mexico Issue. Amphibian and Reptile the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York, Conservation 7: 97–127. United States.

Dominic L. DeSantis1, Vicente Mata-Silva1, Elí García-Padilla2, Arturo Rocha1, Larry David Wilson3, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista4

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Notes on a leucistic Ambystoma flavipiperatum Dixon, 1963 (Caudata: Ambystomatidae)

The Yellow-peppered Salamander, Ambystoma flavipiperatum Dixon, 1963, is endemic to the Mexican state of Jalisco (Frost, 2016). The known distribution of A. flavipiperatum is restricted to the Sierra de Quila in the municipality of Tecolotlán, Jalisco (Santiago-Pérez, et al., 2012; Rosas-Espinoza, et al., 2013; Ahumanda-Carrillo, et al., 2014). This mountain range has been established as a wildlife refuge (as Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Sierra de Quila), and its principal vegetation type is pine-oak forest (Santiago-Pérez et al., 2012). The herpetofauna of this range was studied by Santiago-Pérez et al. (2012), who recorded 69 species, including 21 anurans, two salamanders, 45 squamates, and one turtle. On 2 October 2016, we conducted vegetation sampling at a site in oak-pine forest (20°17'05.92"N, 104°01'12.24"W; WGS 84), elev. 2,179 m, located ca. 23 km E of Atengo and ca. 9 km NNE of Tecolotlán, Jalisco. During our sampling, we came across a stream about 30 m from our campsite, along which closed-canopy gallery forest was growing. The spring was spring-fed and submerged and reemerged at intervals. About 100 m downstream from a point where the water resurfaced, we found a pool that measured 65.5 cm in depth, 5.07 m in width, and 2.6m in length (Fig. 1B). We encountered approximately six aquatic individuals of A. flavipiperatum in the pool, of which one lacked the typical coloration and displayed the characteristics of a leucistic individual Bechtel (1995). We found approximately 50 other individuals in the stream, all with normal coloration. In the original description of A. flavipiperatum, Dixon (1963) did not indicate the body shape or coloration of the larvae. Santiago-Pérez et al. (2012), however, mentioned that the larvae and neotenic individuals are brown to yellowish brown in coloration, with rounded black spots and small yellow spots on the dorsal portion of the body (Fig. 2B). The leucistic individual (Figs. 2A, 3) measured 122.9 mm in total length and 65.2 mm in snout–vent length. The coloration of this individual was recorded as follows: anterodorsal portion of head Pinkish White (Color 216), becoming Smokey White (Color 261) on the remainder of head; dorsum of body with a Pinkish White (Color 216) stripe from nuchal region along middorsum to tail, with scattered punctations; lateral portions of body Smoky White (Color 261), with irregularly distributed Pale Buff (Color 1) spots and very small black punctations (description based on Köhler, 2012). This leucistic individual is paedomorphic, with three external gills on either side, each with numerous black-tipped reddish filaments; the reddish coloration apparently is the result of vascularization, as at or near maturity some Axolotls (A. mexicana) are known to acquire a degree of pigmentation (Bechtel, 1995). A thesis on the population ecology of A. flavipiperatum at the same locality makes no mention of the presence of atypically colored individuals (Urzúa Sánchez, 2016). This individual represents the first record of leucism in A. flavipiperatum. The salamander was easy to locate and collect in the wild (Fig. 4), whereas normally colored individuals were well camouflaged against the debris on the bottom of the pool. Ambystoma flavipiperatum is one of two herpetofaunal species endemic to Jalisco; the other species is Eleutherodactylus grunwaldi (D. Cruz-Sáenz et al., F. Muñoz-Nolasco, V. Mata-Silva, J. Johnson, E. García- Padilla, and L. Wilson, unpublished). This salamander has been assessed as Endangered by the IUCN, as a species of Special Protection by SEMARNAT, and was given an Environmental Vulnerability Score of 14, placing it at the lower limit of the high vulnerability category (Wilson et al., 2013). Given the relatively imperiled conservation status of this salamander, fortunately its entire known range lies within a state-level protected area (D. D. Cruz-Sáenz, F. Muñoz-Nolasco, V. Mata-Silva, J. Johnson, E. García-Padilla, and L. Wilson, unpublished).

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Fig. 1. (A) Oak-pine forest at the collection site of the leucistic individual of Ambystoma flavipiperatum. (B) The stream in which the leucistic individual of A. flavipiperatum was found. ' © Erika Sugey Mata-García

Fig. 2. Neotenic individuals of Ambystoma flavipiperatum from the Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Sierra de Quila, Jalisco. (A) The leucistic individual of Ambystoma flavipiperatum; and (B, C ) the earlier and later stages of normally-colored individuals of A. flavipiperatum. ' © Erika Sugey Mata-García

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Fig. 3. A leucistic paedomorphic individual of Ambystoma flavipiperatum from the Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Sierra de Quila, Jalisco. ' © Erika Sugey Mata-García

Fig. 4. A leucistic individual of Ambystoma flavipiperatum in a pool in the stream at the collection site. ' © Erika Sugey Mata-García

Acknowledgments.—We thank Lizett Carolina Núñez-Carrillo, Julio Alejandro Arias-Hernández, and Diego Brizuela-Torres for field assistance, and Erika Sugey Mata-García for the use of her photographs. The collecting permit was issued to Fausto R. Mendez-de la Cruz by SEMARNAT OFICIO NÚM. (SGPA/DGVS/01629/16) with an extension to DCS.

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Literature Cited

Ahumada-Carrillo, I. T., O. F. Reyna-Bustos, and C. Vázquez- Distribution of some amphibians from central western Mexi- Ruiz. 2014. Geographic distribution: Ambystoma flavipiper- co: Jalisco. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 84: 690–696. atum. Herpetological Review 45: 85. Santiago-Pérez, A. L., M. Domínguez-Laso, V. C. Rosas-Espinoza, Bechtel, H. Bernard. 1995. Reptile and Amphibian Variants: and J. M. Rodríguez-Canseco. 2012. Anfibios y Reptiles Colors, Patterns, and Scales. Krieger Publishing Company, de las Montañas de Jalisco: Sierra de Quila. Universidad de Malabar, Florida, United States. Guadalajara / CONABIO (Comisión Nacional para el Con- Dixon, J. R. 1963. A new species of salamander of the genus ocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad), Jalisco, Mexico, and Ambystoma from Jalisco, Mexico. Copeia 1963: 99–101. México, D.F., Mexico. Frost, D. R. 2016. 2016. Amphibian Species of the World: an Urzúa Sánchez, A. 2016. Variación genética y flujo genético del Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natu- ajolote (Ambystoma flavipiperatum) en Sierra de Quila, Jalis- ral History. New York, United States. (www.research.amnh. co, México. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Universidad de org/ herpetology/amphibia/index.html; accessed 14 October Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. 2016). Wilson, L. D., J. D. Johnson, and V. Mata-Silva. 2013. A con- Köhler, G. 2012. Color Catalogue for Field Biologists Bilingual servation reassessment of the amphibians of Mexico based Edition. Herpeton, Offenbach, Germany. on the EVS measure. Contribution to Special Mexico Issue. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7: 97–127. Rosas-Espinoza, V. C., J. M. Rodríguez-Canseco, A. L. Santiago- Pérez, A. Ayón-Escobedo, and M. Domínguez-Laso. 2013.

Santiago Cortés-Vázquez1, Daniel Cruz-Sáenz1, and Larry David Wilson2

1Centro de Estudios en Zoología, CUCBA, Universidad de Guadalajara, Apartado Postal 1-1919, Zapopan, Jalisco, 44101, México. E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] 2Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano, Departamento de Francisco Morazán, Honduras. E-mail: [email protected]

Aquiloeurycea quetzalanensis (Parra-Olea, Canseco-Márquez, and García-París, 2004). Elevation. The plethodontid genus Pseudoeurycea (sensu lato) recently was partitioned into the genera Isthmura, Aquiloeurycea, and Pseudoeurycea (sensu stricto) (Rovito et al., 2015). Together with Ixalotriton, these genera comprise a highly speciose clade of morphologically divergent salamanders, generally occurring at high (> 2,000 m) elevations along mountain chains in Mexico and Guatemala (Wiens et al., 2007). Ongoing research efforts, however, revealed that some species occur at much lower elevations (e.g. Parra-Olea et al., 2005; Wiens et al., 2007; Rovito et al., 2015). Aquiloeurycea quetzalanensis can be found at mid- to high elevations along the northern versant of the Sierra Madre Oriental in northeastern Puebla, Mexico (Parra-Olea et al., 2004; Mociño-Deloya et al., 2007). During the evening of 13–14 February 2015, we observed two adult individuals of A. quetzalanensis walking on top of large leaves along the banks of the Río Cuichat, at ca. 500 m S of San Andrés Tzicuilan, Municipio de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico (20.009086°N, -97.506067°W, WGS 84; elev. 830 m). The individuals were identified as A. quetzalanensis based on their small size, the presence of glandular convergent ridges on the tail, nearly fully-webbed hands and feet, pale brown tail tips, and presence of scattered metallic blue spots on the flanks (Fig. 1). Syntopic herpetofauna included Ecnomiohyla miotympanum, Craugastor decoratus, and Norops cf. naufragus. Aquiloeurycea quetzalanensis has been reported to inhabit elevations from 905 to 1,400 m, with its distribution largely restricted to mesophilic forest (Parra-Olea et al., 2004; Canseco-Márquez and Gutierrez Mayen, 2006). Subsequently, Mociño-Deloya et al. (2007) reported this species from pine-oak forest and montane cloud forest, and also reported an individual found at an elevation of 1,900 m, the highest known for this species. Although modest in absolute extent, the record we report expands the elevational range of this species, a significant finding because it represents an exceptionally low occurrence for Pseudoeurycea (sensu lato). Of the 54 species previously attributed

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1080 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes to this taxon, only Isthmura maxima is known to occur at even lower elevations (730 m; Parra-Olea et al., 2005). Perhaps A. quetzalanensis has reached this low elevation and persists there by adapting to the largely undisturbed, humid, mesophilic forest along the steep and deeply carved valley of the Río Cuichat (Fig. 2). Determining if Mesoamerican salamanders, or other generally montane herpetofaunal species, often occupy such peripheral habitats would be an interesting research project.

Fig. 1. An adult individual of Aquiloeurycea quetzalanensis found along the banks of the Río Cuichat, at ca. 500 m S of San Andrés Tzicuilan, Municipio de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico. ' © Wouter Beukema

Fig. 2. Mesophilic forest along the steep and deeply carved valley of the Río Cuichat, in Puebla, Mexico. ' © Wouter Beukema

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Literature Cited

Canseco-Márquez, L. and M. G. Gutierrez Mayen. 2006. Her- Parra-Olea, G., M. García-París, T. J. Papenfuss, and D. B. petofauna del Municipio de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla. Wake. 2005. Systematics of the Pseudoeurycea belli (Cau- Pp. 180–196 In A. Ramírez-Bautista, L. Canseco-Márquez data: Plethodontidae) species complex. Herpetologica 61: and F. Mendoza-Quijano (Eds.), Inventarios Herpeto- 145–158. faunísticos de México: Avances en el Conocimiento de su Rovito, S. M., G. Parra-Olea, E. Recuero, and D. B. Wake. 2015. Biodiversidad. Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana, México, Diversification and biogeographical history of Neotropical D.F., Mexico. plethodontid salamanders. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Mociño-Deloya, E., U. O. García-Vásquez, I. Solano-Zavaleta Society 175: 167–188. and M. Zosado-Luna. 2007. Geographic Distribution. Pseu- Wiens, J. J., G. Parra-Olea, M. García-París, and D. B. Wake. doeurycea quetzalanensis (Cuetzalan Salamander). Herpeto- 2007. Phylogenetic history underlies elevational biodiversity logical Review 38: 213. patterns in tropical salamanders. Proceedings of the Royal Parra-Olea, G., L. Canseco-Márquez ,and M. García-París. Society B 274: 919–928. 2004. A morphologically distinct new species of Pseudo- eurycea (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla, México. Herpetologica 60: 78–84.

Lucía Manzanares1 and Wouter Beukema2

1Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 2Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.

Second individual of a recently discovered species of salamander, Bolitoglossa chucantiensis (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from eastern Panama

Bolitoglossa is the largest and most widely distributed genus of plethodontid salamanders, which includes about 16% of the recognized species (Parra-Olea et al., 2004). In total, 131 species of Bolitoglossa are distributed from northeastern Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (AmphibiaWeb, 2016; Kubicki and Arias, 2016). Four species of this genus, regarded as in the adspersa group, were known from eastern Panama (B. biseriata, B. cuna, B. medemi, and B. taylori; Jaramillo et al., 2010), and Batista et al. (2014) described a new species (B. chucantiensis) of this group from this region. Bolitoglossa chucantiensis differs from these congeners by the presence of a greater number of maxillary teeth in proportion to the snout–vent length (SVL), a brown dorsal coloration with large patches with yellow speckling, and the feet are completely webbed, with a slight indentation present between the tips of the toes and fingers. After the description of B. chucantiensis, two trips were made to the type locality to search for additional specimens, specifically to gather data for evaluating the morphological variation and ecology of this species. During the first trip to this area (2–4 April 2015), three of us (AB, MM, and MP) conducted an unsuccessful search. On the second trip we spent five nights (10–14 October 2016) camping in cloud forest in the vicinity of the type locality, at elevations from 1,200 and 1,449 m. On 14 October 2016 at 0118 h, we found a specimen of B. chucantiensis (08.80467°N, 78.45896°W; datum WGS 84), 200 m N from where the holotype was collected. This specimen (deposited at the Museo Herpetológico de Chiriquí, MHCH 3217, original field number AB 2087; Fig. 1) was found at an elevation of 1,424 m, 100 m N from the top of Cerro Chucantí, at a temperature of 21°C. The salamander was found 2 m above the ground on a bromeliad leaf, when a gentle breeze was blowing. A heavy rain, however, had fallen the previous evening from 1500 to 1700 h. Characteristics of the new specimen resembled the description of the B. chucantiensis (Batista et al., 2014), as it measured 52 mm in snout–vent length (SVL), 59 mm in tail length

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(TL), and had a count of 65 maxillary teeth (MT), (Table. 1); compared to the holotype (SMF 97141), however, it also shows marginal differences, with the number of teeth being the most conspicuous (Table 1). Nonetheless, no significant morphometric differences are present between the holotype and this topotypic specimen, as the proportions are similar (Table 1).

Fig. 1. The second specimen of Bolitoglossa chucantiensis found at the type locality. (A) At the site of encounter; (B) a lateral view of the head, one day after collection; (C, D) a frontal view; and (E) a lateral view of the body. ' © Abel Batista (A, C, and E) and Madian Miranda (B)

Bolitoglossa chucantiensis only is known from premontane cloud forest on Cerro Chucantí, with the two specimens having been found on a bromeliad and a palm leaf, at elevations above 1,200 m; its known distribution currently is estimated at fewer than 2 km2, at the summit of Cerro Chucantí (see Batista et al., This issue). To date, we have spent 147 man/h searching for amphibians and reptiles in the vicinity of the type locality, and encountered only two specimens. Because of the intensive surveys we have conducted on Cerro Chucantí and other areas of the Cordillera de Majé, in addition to other fieldwork in cloud forests in eastern Panama (in the province of Darién), we presume that the distribution of B. chucantiensis is restricted to Cerro Chucantí. Accordingly, we suggest that by applying the IUCN red list criteria B1ab(ii,iii)+2ab(ii,iii) (IUCN, 2012), this species should be assessed as Critically Endangered. The distribution of this species is extremely restricted, as it has been found in only one isolated peak, in an area where the quality of the habitat and area of occupancy of this species continues to decline as a result of habitat degradation caused by logging for pastures. This species also has been assessed an Environmental Vulnerability Score of 18, placing it in the upper portion of the high vulnerability category (Johnson et al., 2015).

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Table 1. Measurements and proportions of the two known specimens of Bolitoglossa chucantiensis. Abbreviations are the same as in Batista et al. (2014). Measurements Proportions Characters (mm) Holotype Topotype Characters Holotype Topotype SLV 47 52 TL/SVL 1.17 1.13 TL 55 59 HW/SVL 0.16 0.15 SG 11.74 12 MT/SVL 1.6 1.25 HW 7.63 8 VT/SVL 0.53 0.44 HD 6.41 4 HAW/SVL 0.08 0.06 AX 23.18 27 FW/SVL 0.1 0.08 HLL 10 10 SG/SVL 0.25 0.23 FLL 11 9 VT/MT 0.33 0.35 HAW 3.67 3 SVL/HW 6.6 6.5 FW 4.63 4 LI 13 27 PMT 2 3 MT right 38 30 MT left 37 32 MT total 75 65 VT right 13 11 VT left 12 12 VT total 25 23

Acknowledgments.––We thank Jesus Pérez, Benjamín, Luis de León, Sr. Juan Zarzavilla from Rio Pavo and Austin Garrido for field assistance and help with the translation, and Guido Berguido for his support during our stay at the Chucanti private reserve. This work was supported financially by ADOPTA Panama.

Literature Cited

AmphibiaWeb. 2016. Information on Amphibian Biology and Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Conservation. Berkeley, California, United States. (www. Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. amphibiaweb.org; accessed 23 October 2016). Johnson J. D., V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson. 2015. A conserva- Batista, A., G. Köhler, K. Mebert, and M. Vesely. 2014a. A tion reassessment of the Central American herpetofauna based new species of Bolitoglossa (Amphibia: Plethodontidae) on the EVS measure. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 9(2) from eastern Panama, with comments on other species of the [General Section}: 1–94 (e100). adspersa species group from eastern Panama. Mesoameri- Kubicki, B., and E. Arias. 2016. A beautiful new salamander, genus can Herpetology 1: 97–121. Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from the northeastern Batista A., K. Merbert, S. Lotzkat, and L. D. Wilson. 2016. slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. Zootaxa A new species of centipede snake of the genus Tantilla 4,184: 329–346. (Squamata: Colubridae) from an isolated premontane forest Parra-Olea, G., M. García-París, and D. B. Wake. (2004) Molec- in eastern Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: 948–959. ular diversification of salamanders of the tropical American Jaramillo, C. A., L. D. Wilson, R. Ibáñez, and F. E. Jaramillo. genus Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) and its evolu- 2010. The herpetofauna of Panama: distribution and conser- tionary and biogeographical implications. Biological Journal vation status. Pp. 604–671 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, of the Linnean Society of London, 81: 325–346. and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican

Orlando Garcés, Madian Miranda, Rogemif Fuentes, and Abel Batista Los Naturalistas, P.O. Box 0426-01459, David, Chiriquí, Panama. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] (AB, Corresponding author)

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A new locality for the Endangered Abronia gaiophantasma Campbell and Frost, 1993 (Squamata: Anguidae) in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, with notes on morphology

Abronia gaiophantasma is endemic to the mountains of central Guatemala (Campbell and Frost, 1993; Köhler, 2008; Acevedo et al., 2010). Because of its small range with no more than five known sites of occurrence, combined with a projected population decline, this species has been classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Ariano-Sánchez et al., 2014). Herein we provide information on a new site record for this species. We used software ESRI ArcView 3.2 for the spatial analyses. During bird observations in Reserva Natural Privada (RNP) Chelemhá, Montaña Yalijux, Municipio San Pedro Carchá, Departamento de Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, on 21 May 2016 at 1200 h KE encountered two lizards of the genus Abronia at (15°23'03.8"N 90°03'51.9"W; WGS 84) elev. 2,270 m. Both individuals were found at- tached to each other (probably mating) on the ground, in primary cloud forest (30–40 m tall) at approximately 100 m from the forest edge. One of the individuals was photographed at the site of the encounter. MA identified the individual from the images as adult male A. gaiophantasma (Figs. 1, 2). Voucher photographs are deposited at the University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8675–80). An unidentified Abronia sp. as prey of a female Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno (Aves: Trogonidae) in RNP Chelemhá, elev. 2,530 m, was photographed in 2011 (Eisermann, 2013), and might pertain to the same species. The nearest confirmed record of A. gaiophantasma is from Chicacnab at Montaña Caquipec (Franzen and Haft, 1999), 13 km to the west (Fig. 3A). The cloud forest at Montaña Caquipec has become isolated from the forest at Montaña Yalijux as a result of deforestation (Fig. 3A). The observation of A. gaiophantasma in RNP Chelemhá is noteworthy because it represents the first record of this globally Endangered species for this reserve, and also represents an increase in its documented area of distribution (Fig. 3). The extent of occurrence (polygon with the shortest continuous boundary encompassing all sites and all inner angles < 180°) covers approximately 650 km2. Abronia gaiophantasma has been recorded at elevations from 1,600 to 2,350 m (Wilson and Johnson, 2010) in two life zones: subtropical wet forest (cold), and subtropical lower montane rain forest (Acevedo et al., 2010). The potential area of distribution according to IUCN (Ariano- Sánchez et al., 2014) covers approximately 2,700 km2, which includes an arid valley in the western part with un- suitable habitat (Fig. 3B). A more realistic extent of the potential area of distribution, based on continuous elevation above 1,500 m, covers 2,300 km2 (Fig. 3B). According to the coverage of protected areas in Guatemala (CONAP, 2013), of the 2,300 km2 of potential area of distribution of A. gaiophantasma, 1,190 km2 (52%) are legally protected (Table 1), but only 12.1 km2 (0.5%) are covered by strictly protected areas of IUCN categories I or II (IUCN, 2008). The only protected area of this category with records of A. gaiophantasma is Biotopo Protegido Mario Dary Rivera, which covers 11.5 km2. Most of the protected areas within the range of A. gaiophantasma are private nature reserves (Reservas Naturales Privadas). Although many of these reserves currently are among the best protected in Guatemala, driven by strong personal interests of the owners, the national law of protected areas (Decreto 4–89, Congreso de la República de Guatemala, Acuerdo Gubernativo 759–90) does not require a long-term commitment for conservation, or continued conservation efforts by future land owners. The long-term protection of A. gaiophantasma is threatened by the lack of strict legal area protection, combined with ongoing habitat fragmentation caused by deforestation (Fig. 3A; see also Renner et al., 2006; Pope et al., 2015). Photographs of the adult male A. gaiophantasma in RNP Chelemhá taken at the site of encounter show the number of longitudinal scale rows. The individual displayed 15 longitudinal rows of large dorsal scales, with scales 1–7 being the lateral scales and number 8 the central scale (Fig. 2). We counted the scale rows based on Campbell and Frost (1993: p. 11, footnote), who noted that the number of scale rows used in the key refers only to the large scales, and not the smaller scales along the ventrolateral fold. The number of longitudinal dorsal scale rows differed from the 12 rows indicated by Campbell and Frost (1993) and Köhler (2008), the latter in a more recent key for the genus in Central America. Franzen and Haft (1999), however, reported 12 dorsal scale rows in a male, and 14 in a female. The color of the throat, belly, and ventral surface of the hind legs and tail of the male in RNP Chelemhá closely matched the Light Greenish Yellow in the color catalogue of Köhler (2012) (Fig. 1C, D, G). The ventral coloration of individuals in life has not been indicated previously in identification keys (Campbell and Frost, 1993;

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Köhler, 2008), but Franzen and Haft (1999: 152) noted a “yellowish” venter in a male. The observations on the higher number of scale rows and the ventral coloration, based on photographs, may be useful for future revisions of a key to species of the genus Abronia.

Fig. 1. A male Abronia gaiophantasma observed at Reserva Natural Privada Chelemhá, Montaña Yalijux, Municipio San Pedro Carchá, Departamento de Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. (A) A dorsolateral view of the head and abdomen (UTADC-8675); (B) a dorsal view of the head (UTADC-8676); (C) a lateral view of the head and throat; (D) a dorsolateral view; (E) a dorsal view of the body and tail (UTADC-8678); (F) a view of the individual next to a metric scale (150 mm) (UTADC-8679); and (G) a lateral view of the body. ' © Knut Eisermann

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Fig. 2. A close-up of the head and anterolateral portion of the body of the male Abronia gaiophantasma in Figure 1. The white numbers indicate the longitudinal scale rows (scale 8 is the central scale). High-resolution voucher photograph UTADC-8680. ' © Knut Eisermann

Table 1. Coverage of protected areas within the potential area of distribution of Abronia gaiophantasma (blue polygon in Fig. 3B).

CONAP (2013) Number of IUCN (2008) Area in km2 Protected Area Category Reserves Protected Area Category

Parque Nacional 1 0.6 I

Biotopo Protegido 1 11.5 II

Reserva Natural Privada 30 146.8 V

Reserva de Biosfera 1 999.8 VI

Zona de Veda Definitiva 1 31.3 ––

Total 34 1,190.0

Much of the natural history of members of the genus Abronia remains to be discovered (Campbell and Frost, 1993; Köhler, 2008), including demography, population density, food, and predators. A Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) preying on Abronia (Eisermann, 2013) in RNP Chelemhá, most likely A. gaiophantasma, therefore is noteworthy.

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Fig. 3. Distribution of Abronia gaiophantasma. (A) Forest cover based on a satellite image from May of 2011 at Montaña Caquipec and Montaña Yalijux. The red dots mark the sites of encounter of A. gaiophantasma in Chicacnab (Franzen and Haft, 1999) and in RNP Chelemhá. Note the broken connection between the forests of Caquipec and Yalijux, as a result of deforestation. Isohypses of the lower and upper limits of the documented distribution of A. gaiophantasma (1,600 and 2,400 m) are marked in bold. (B) Sites of A. gaiophantasma (red dots): 1–RNP Chelemhá; 2–Chicacnab (Franzen and Haft, 1999); 3– Finca Rubel Chaim (Griffin and Mei, 2015); 4–Cerro Verde and Cerro Quisís (Campbell and Frost, 1993), and 5–surroundings of Chilascó (Campbell and Frost, 1993). The red polygon marks the potential area of distribution according to IUCN (Ariano- Sánchez et al., 2014); and the blue polygon marks a more realistic delimitation of the potential area of distribution.

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Acknowledgments.––We thank the association Unión para Proteger el Bosque Nuboso (UPROBON) for logistical support in RNP Chelemhá. Carl. J. Franklin kindly incorporated photographs in the University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC) and provided the voucher numbers. We appreciate comments on the manuscript by Louis W. Porras. The observation was made during a trip supported by Cayaya Birding, Guatemala.

Literature Cited

Acevedo, M., L. D. Wilson, E. B. Cano, and C. Vásquez-Al- Griffin, R., and A. Mei. 2015. The Herpetofauna of Finca Rubel mazán. 2010. Diversity and conservation status of the Chaim, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala: A Preliminary Investigation. Guatemalan herpetofauna. Pp. 407–434 In L. D. Wilson, Indigo Expeditions. (www.explorewithindigo.com/wp-con- J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of tent/uploads/2015/09/CONAP-Alta-Verapaz-2015-EN.pdf; Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain accessed 15 August 2016). Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. IUCN. 2008. Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Ariano-Sánchez, D., M. Acevedo, and J. Johnson. 2014. Abronia Categories. International Union for Conservaion of Nature, gaiophantasma. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Gland, Switzerland. 2014: e.T203016A2758597. (www.dx.doi.org/10.2305/ Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T203016A2758597.en; accessed 3 Offenbach, Germany. August 2016). Köhler, G. 2012. Color Catalogue for Field Biologists. Herpeton, Campbell, J. A., and D. R. Frost. 1993. Anguid lizards of the Offenbach, Germany. genus Abronia: revisionary notes, description of four new Pope, I., D. Bowen, J. Harbor, G. Shao, L. Zanotti, and G. Burni- species, a phylogenetic analysis, and key. Bulletin of the ske. 2015. Deforestation of montane cloud forest in the central American Museum of Natural History 216: 1–121. highlands of Guatemala: contributing factors and implications CONAP. 2013. Lista de Áreas Protegidas Inscritas en el SIGAP. for sustainability in Q’eqchi’ communities. International Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), Guate- Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 22: mala. (Geographic Information System database; accessed 201–212. 11 September 2013). Renner, S. C., M. Voigt, and M. Markussen. 2006. Regional Eisermann, K. 2013. Noteworthy nesting record and unusual bill deforestation in a tropical montane cloud forest in Alta Ver- coloration of Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno. apaz, Guatemala. Ecotropica 12: 43–49. Cotinga 35 OL: 74–78. Wilson, L.D. and J. D. Johnson. 2010. Distributional patterns of Franzen, M., and J. Haft. 1999. Range extension and morpho- the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a biodiversity hotspot. Pp. logical variation in Abronia gaiophantasma Campbell and 30–235 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson Frost (Sauria: Anguidae). Caribbean Journal of Science 35: (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Rep- 151–152. tiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States.

Knut Eisermann1 and Manuel Acevedo2

1PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program, Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. E-mail: [email protected] 2Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas – Centro de Datos para la Conservación, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. E-mail: [email protected]

Aspidoscelis costata. Scale variation. Aspidoscelis costata (formerly Cnemidophorus costatus) is the available name for an assemblage of moderately large whiptail lizards (Squamata: Teiidae) in continental western Mexico, which has not been adequately subjected to genetic analyses for reliable species partitioning (Duellman and Zweiflel, 1962; Maslin and Secoy, 1986; Reeder et al., 2002). Nevertheless, Duellman and Zweifel (1962) correctly indicated that all populations tentatively allocated to the A. costata complex possess enlarged postantebrachial scales on the posterior aspect of each forearm (Fig. 1A). This conclusion, and that this typically is an invariable character, was based on their analyses of several hundred specimens, as well as our collective observations. Here, we offer the first

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1089 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes report of the occurrence of an unusual individual of A. costata with slightly enlarged postantebrachial scales, from an area in Mexico where morphological variation in this species has not been assessed. On 27 May 2016, during an ecological investigation at Ixtapan de la Sal, Estado de México, Mexico (18°50'34.5"N, 99°40'51.8"W; datum WGS 84; elev. 1,800 m), we captured and released individuals of A. costata (n = 51). Field examinations of these lizards revealed that one male presented slightly enlarged postantebrachial scales (Fig. 1B). These individuals were captured within private property in an urban habitat near an asphaltic road where A. costata was the only whiptail lizard species present. We verified our diagnosis by comparing other morphological characters and dorsal and ventral color patterns in the lizards with the account of A. costata provided by Duellman and Zweifel (1962). This finding deserves additional research to evaluate the extension of this character variation to other populations, and suggests that the field diagnosis for A. costata should also include additional scutellation traits than just the morphology of postantebrachial scales.

Fig. 1. (A) Forearm of a male (110 mm SVL) Aspidoscelis costata showing enlarged postantebrachial scales; and (B) forearm of a male (96 mm SVL) showing slightly enlarged postantebrachial scales. Both individuals are from Ixtapan de la Sal, Estado de México, Mexico. SVL = snout vent length. ' © Aldo Gómez-Benitez

Acknowledgments.––We thank the Delgado family for permission to capture and release individuals of Aspidoscelis costata on their property.

Literature Cited

Duellman, W. E., and R. G. Zweifel. 1962. A synopsis of the Reeder, T. W., C. J. Cole, and H. C. Dessauer. 2002. Phylogenetic lizards of the sexlineatus group (genus Cnemidophorus). relationships of whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 123: (Squamata: Teiidae): a test of monophyly, reevaluation of 155–210. karyotypic evolution, and review of hybrid origins. American Maslin, T. P., and D. M. Secoy. 1986. A checklist of the lizard Museum Novitates 3,365: 1–61. genus Cnemidophorus (Teiidae). University of Colorado Museum Contributions in Zoology 1: 1–60.

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Aldo Gómez-Benitez1, Ana Esthela López-Moreno1, James Martin Walker2, Edgar Vásquez-Alcán- tara1, Daniel Sánchez-Manjarrez1, Orlando Suárez-Rodríguez1, and Oswaldo Hernández Gallegos1

1Laboratorio de Herpetología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Instituto Literario # 100, Colonia Centro, C. P. 50000, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (AGB, Corresponding author) 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, United States.

First record and distributional extension for Polychrus gutturosus Berthold, 1845 (Squamata: Polychrotidae) in the Península de Nicoya of northwestern Costa Rica, with a new record from Provincia de San José

The genus Polychrus is widely distributed in Latin America, but of the seven recognized species only P. gutturosus occurs in Central America (Köhler, 2003; Koch et al., 2011). The distribution of P. gutturosus has been reported to extend from northern Honduras to northwestern Colombia, on the Atlantic versant, and on the Pacific versant from northwestern Costa Rica to northwestern Ecuador (Peters, 1967; Peters and Donoso-Barros, 1970; Ayala, 1986; Köhler, 2001, 2008; Savage, 2002; Koch et al., 2011; Gómez-Hoyos et al., 2015). This species is widely distributed in Costa Rica at elevations to at least 1,000 m, but to date has not been recorded from the subhumid northwestern part of the country (Leenders, 2001; Savage, 2002; Köhler, 2008; Herr and Herr, 2014); in Colombia, P. gutturosus is known to occur at a maximum elevation of 1,300 m (Castro-Herrera and Vargas-Salinas, 2008). In northwestern Costa Rica this species has been recorded from the Cordillera de Guanacaste and the Cordillera de Tilarán (Taylor, 1956; Savage, 2002: map 10.11), but it has not been reported from Tropical Dry Forest. Polychrus gutturosus predominantly is a canopy-dweller that apparently occurs in low population densities, and thus rarely is seen in the wild (Köhler, 2003). Accordingly, Taylor (1956) noted that this species is rare in museum collections. Herein, we report three new records of P. gutturosus from Costa Rica, including one from dry habitat in the Península de Nicoya, and also another record from a nearby locality. Because relatively few specimens of P. gutturosus have been deposited in museum collections, we also report one individual from the southwestern part of Provincia de San José. On 7 September 2016, OAS observed two male P. gutturosus fighting in low scrub vegetation at a height of ca. 3 m above the ground along a dirt road 800–900 m S of Hojancha, Provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica (10.0456°N, 85.4197°W; WGS 84; elev. 355 m). Both individuals subsequently fell to the ground, where one remained in low vegetation and the other started walking slowly across the road. OAS photographed the latter individual using a mobile phone camera (Fig. 1A, B); neither individual appeared startled by the presence of OAS. This observation was made during the wet season, after heavy rains seemingly had triggered an increase in reptile activity.

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Fig. 1. (A) Lateral and (B) dorsal views of a male Polychrus gutturosus found on 7 September 2016 just south of Hojancha, Península de Nicoya, Costa Rica. The individual was observed walking slowly on a road in the vicinity of a shrub where it had been involved in a fight with a conspecific. ' © Olman Alfaro Sánchez

The area consisted of dry cultivated land and pastures with a scattering of human settlements, among which were patches of xerophytic scrub vegetation. Within this area, the habitat of P. gutturosus consisted of a ca. 50 m wide belt of dense scrub vegetation along a 3–4 m wide permanent stream. During the dry season, however, the width of the stream is reduced substantially, as much of it turns into small ponds or puddles. The small amount of microhabitat along the stream does not dry out completely, but during the dry season most of the scrub dries out. In 2011 or 2012, OAS also observed one individual of P. gutturosus in a shrub at a height of ca. 3 m, approximately 200 m N from the above-mentioned locality (10.0476°N, 85.4194°W; WGS 84; elev. 352 m); the habitat was similar to the one in the 2016 observation. Although the lizard undoubtedly was a P. gutturosus, unfortunately no verification for this observation exists. On 13 December 2015, HOH and HB found one adult male P. gutturosus in rainforest habitat at Reserva Los Campesinos, ca. 25 km E of Quepos, in the southwestern part of Provincia de San José (9.4568°N, 84.0033°W; WGS 84; elev. 180–185 m). The individual was encountered sleeping at 1822 h on top of twigs and large leaves on a shrub, at a height of ca. 4 m. The shrub was growing on a steep slope, and the lizard was spotted from above (Fig. 2). The two records of P. gutturosus from Hojancha constitute an important range extension into the dry Península de Nicoya. In terms of habitat, in the pertinent literature cited in this note P. gutturosus has been noted to occur exclusively in humid forest or rainforest (e.g., Savage, 2002; Köhler, 2003, 2008). Leenders (2001: 189) mentioned that this species “is absent from very dry areas like Guanacaste Province,” and thus, our records from Tropical Dry Forest in the Península de Nicoya represent a new habitat for this species. We believe that the riparian habitat in this area, although limited in extent during the dry season, is crucial for the survival of P. gutturosus and suggest that populations of this species likely occur in other riparian areas of the peninsula. Although expected, the record of P. gutturosus from Reserva Los Campesinos contributes new distributional information. According to Savage (2002: map 10.11), the nearest localities are 60 km (straight line) to the NW, N, NE, and SE.

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Fig. 2. A male Polychrus gutturosus found on 13 December 2015 at Reserva Los Campesinos, ca. 25 km E of Quepos, in the southwestern part of Provincia de San José, Costa Rica. ' © Henrik Bringsøe

Certain areas of the Península de Nicoya contain semi-humid forest (e.g., along a large stream 4–5 km to the S of our new reported locality), which likely constitute suitable habitat for P. gutturosus. Would it be possible to judge when P. gutturosus dispersed into the Península de Nicoya? Deforestation in the peninsula has continued into recent years, especially during the 1950s, after which it began to decrease markedly (Sader and Joyce, 1988). Evidence indicates that major deforestation occurred on the lower slopes of Volcan Miravalles from 5,000 to 5,500 years ago (Arford and Horn, 2004; Horn and Haberyan, 2016). Was the climate of the Península de Nicoya more humid in earlier times? Over the last 100,000 years, the climate of the northern part of the Península de Nicoya probably was neither wetter nor more humid than today (Lachniet et al., 2009: fig. 5; M. Lachniet, pers. comm.), but according to Horn (1985) the vegetation of southern Central America changed during the late Quaternary and during this interval moist tropical forest covered the Península de Nicoya. Consequently, the peninsula likely was covered with rainforest during the late Quaternary, more than 100,000 years ago, which would have provided the conditions necessary for the survival of P. gutturosus. Although in more recent times the Península de Nicoya generally has been covered with Tropical Dry Forest, P. gutturosus might have been able to disperse into the peninsula along riparian corridors. Acknowledgments.––We thank Sally P. Horn (Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee), Gunther Köhler (Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Matthew Lachniet (Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada), and Jay M. Savage (Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California) for valuable help and comments. Jan Grathwohl (Næstved, Denmark) kindly provided literature.

Literature Cited

Arford, M. R., and S. P. Horn. 2004. Pollen evidence of the Ayala, S. C. 1986. Saurios de Colombia: lista actualizada y distri- earliest maize agriculture in Costa Rica. Journal of Latin bución de ejemplares colombianos en los museos. Caldasia American Geography 3: 108–115. 15: 555–575.

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Castro-Herrera, F., and Vargas-Salinas, F. 2008. Anfibios y Köhler, G. 2003. Das Leguanportrait: Polychrus gutturosus Ber- reptiles en el departemento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia. thold 1845. Iguana-Rundschreiben 16: 5–8. Biota Colombiana 9: 251–277. Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, Gómez-Hoyos, D. A, S. Escobar-Lasso, T. Suarez-Joaqui, and Offenbach, Germany. J. A. Velasco. 2015. Predation on the bush anole Polychrus Lachniet, M. S., L. Johnson, Y. Asmerom, S. J. Burns, V. Polyak, gutturosus by the parrot snake Leptophis ahaetulla, with a W. P. Patterson, L. Burt, and A. Azouz. 2009. Late Quaterna- new record of the bush anole for the Gorgona Island Nation- ry moisture export across Central America and to Greenland: al Natural Park, Colombia. Herpetology Notes 8: 297–301. evidence for tropical rainfall variability from Costa Rican Herr, M. W., and D. Herr. 2014. Geographic Distribution. Poly- stalagmites. Quaternary Science Reviews 28: 3,348–3,360. chrus gutturosus (Berthold’s Bush Anole). Herpetological Leenders, T. 2001. A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Review 45: 662. Rica. Distribuidores Zona Tropical, Miami, Florida, United Horn, S. P. 1985. Preliminary pollen analysis of Quaternary States. sediments from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 565, western Peters, J. A. 1967. The lizards of Ecuador, a check-list and key. Costa Rica. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project Proceedings of the United States National Museum 119: 1–49. 84: 533–547. Peters, J. A., and R. Donoso-Barros. 1970. Catalogue of the Neo- Horn, S. P., and K. A. Haberyan. 2016. The lakes of Costa Rica. tropical Squamata: Part II. Lizards. Smithsonian Institution, Pp. 656–682 In M. Kappelle (Ed.), Costa Rican Ecosystems. United States National Museum, Washington, D.C., United The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United States. States. Sader, S. A., and A. T. Joyce. 1988. Deforestation rates and trends Koch, C., P. J. Venegas, A. Garcia-Bravo, and W. Böhme. 2011. in Costa Rica, 1940 to 1983. Biotropica 20: 11–19. A new bush anole (Iguanidae, Polychrotinae, Polychrus) Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: from the upper Marañón basin, Peru, with a redescription of A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. Polychrus peruvianus (Noble, 1924) and additional informa- The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United tion on P. gutturosus Berthold, 1845. ZooKeys 141: 79–107. States. Köhler, G. 2001. Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua. Herpeton, Taylor, E. H. 1956. A review of the lizards of Costa Rica. Univ. Offenbach, Germany. Kansas Sci. Bull. 38 (part 1): 3–322.

Henrik Bringsøe1, Olman Alfaro Sánchez2, and Hans Ole Hansen3

1Irisvej 8, DK-4600 Køge, Denmark. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 2Hojancha, Costa Rica. 3Pilebakken 1, DK-4400 Kalundborg, Denmark.

Elevational range extension and new habitat for Thamnophis fulvus (Bocourt, 1893) (Squamata: Natricidae)

The Mesoamerican Gartersnake, Thamnophis fulvus, is endemic to the highlands of central Chiapas, Mexico, through southern Guatemala into southwestern Honduras and adjacent El Salvador, at elevations from 1,400 to 3,500 m (Rossman, 1996; Köhler, 2008; Wilson and Johnson, 2010). During bird observations at a site locally known as Planes del Diablo (15°31'14"N, 91°33'56"W; datum WGS 84), in the central part of Parque Regional Municipal “K’ojlab’l Tze’ Te’ Tnom Todos Santos Cuchumatán” (hereaf- ter PRM Todos Santos Cuchumatán), Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Departamento de Huehuetenango, Guatemala, on 27 August 2016 at 1230 h, CA, KE, and EM encountered and photographed two individuals of Thamnophis fulvus. Voucher photographs are deposited at the University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC-8716–19). Both snakes were similar in length (ca. 40 cm). The dorsal ground color of one individual was grayish brown,

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1094 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes whereas that of the other was rufous brown (Fig. 1). MA confirmed the identification of both individuals after view- ing the photographs. Both individuals were observed for approximately 5 min in an area dominated by rocks, small patches of low grasses and herbs, and sparsely distributed, short (30 cm) juniper shrubs (Juniperus standleyi), at an elevation of 3,710 m, before the snakes retreated into cavities among the rocks.

Fig. 1. Two individuals of Thamnophis fulvus found at an elevation of 3,710 m in PRM Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Departamento de Huehuetenango, Guatemala. (A, B) individual with a rufous brown dorsal ground color (UTADC-8716, 8717); and (C, D) individual with a grayish brown dorsal ground color (UTADC-8718, 8719). ' © Knut Eisermann

Within a radius of 100 m around the site of the encounter, temporary, small and shallow water bodies are formed during the rainy season. The principal vegetation in the immediate vicinity is páramo grassland consisting of several species of grasses dominated by by Agrostis tolucensis (Poaceae) 2—40 cm tall (Fig. 2), but open pine

Mesoamerican Herpetology 1095 December 2016 | Volume 3 | Number 4 Other Contributions Miscellaneous Notes woodland dominated by Hartweg’s Pine, Pinus hartwegii, occurs at a distance of 150 m. Glaciers shaped the area during the late Quaternary (Lachniet and Roy, 2011). A temperate climate prevails in the area, with a mean mini- mum annual temperature of 5°C and mean maximum annual temperature of 20°C. The mean annual precipitation is 1,500 mm, and the mean monthly precipitation ranges from 10 to 25 mm during the dry season (December–March), and from 70 to 300 mm during the rainy season (April–November) (MAGA, 2002).

Fig. 2. Habitat of Thamnophis fulvus at 3,700 m in PRM Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Departamento de Huehuetenango, Guatemala, a páramo grassland in a landscape shaped by glaciers during the late Quaternary. ' © Knut Eisermann

This observation expands the upper elevational limit of T. fulvus by more than 200 m (to 3,710 m), as Köhler (2008) and Wilson and Johnson (2010) had reported the elevational range of this species as 1,400–3,500 m. Thamnophis fulvus also had been recorded in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, but at elevations of ca. 2,800 m (Campbell et al., 1998; Acevedo, 2006). Thamnophis fulvus is known to occur in different montane forest types, including broadleaf forests (rain and cloud forest) and mixed and coniferous forests (pine-oak and pine forest) (Johnson et al., 2010; Acevedo et al., 2010). To our knowledge, T. fulvus has not been reported from páramo grassland, similar to the site in PRM Todos Santos Cuchumatán. In national conservation status assessments, T. fulvus has been evaluated as medium to highly vulnerable in all the countries of occurrence (Acevedo et al., 2010; Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; Johnson et al., 2010; Townsend and Wilson, 2010), suggesting the need to reassess this taxon in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, where it is currently listed as Least Concern (Campbell and Muñoz- Alonso, 2013). Acknowledgments.–We thank Carl. J. Franklin for incorporating the photographs into the University of Texas at Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC), and for providing the voucher numbers. We appreciate relevant literature and comments on the manuscript provided by Louis W. Porras. The observation was made during a trip supported by Cayaya Birding, Guatemala.

Literature Cited

Acevedo, M. 2006. Anfibios y reptiles de Guatemala: una breve Acevedo, M., L. D. Wilson, E. B. Cano, and C. Vásquez-Almazán. síntesis con bibliografía. Pp. 487–524 In E. Cano (Ed.) Bio- 2010. Diversity and conservation status of the Guatemalan diversidad de Guatemala. Volumen 1. Universidad del Valle herpetofauna. Pp. 407–434 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, de Guatemala, Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala. and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States.

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Campbell, J. A. and A. Muñoz-Alonso. 2013. Thamnophis Lachniet, M. S., and A. J. Roy. 2011. Guatemala and Costa Rica. fulvus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: Developments in Quaternary Science 15: 843–847. e.T63980A3132450. (www.dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN. MAGA (Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación). UK.2013-2.RLTS.T63980A3132450.en; accessed 8 Sep- 2002. Atlas de Guatemala. CD-Rom. Ministerio de Agri- tember 2016). cultura, Ganadería y Alimentación, Ciudad de Guatemala, Campbell, J. A., M. Sasa, M. Acevedo, and J. R. Mendelson III. Guatemala. 1998. A new species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from Rossman, D. A., N. B. Ford, and R. A. Siegel. 1996. The Garter the high Cuchumatanes of Guatemala. Herpetologica 54: Snakes: Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma 221–234. Press, Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Greenbaum, E., and O. Komar. 2010. A conservation assessment Townsend, J. H. and L. D. Wilson. 2010 Conservation of the Hon- of Salvadoran protected areas: priorities and recommen- duran herpetofauna: issues and imperatives. Pp. 461–486 In dations based on amphibian and reptile conservation. Pp. L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Con- 437–459 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson servation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, States. Utah, United States. Wilson, L. D. and J. D. Johnson. 2010. Distributional patterns of Johnson, J. D., V. Mata-Silva, and A. Ramírez-Bautista. 2010. the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a biodiversity hotspot. Pp. Geographic distribution and conservation of the herpetofau- 30–235 In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson na of southeastern Mexico. Pp. 323–369 In L. D. Wilson, (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Rep- J. H. Townsend, and J. D. Johnson (Eds.), Conservation of tiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles. Eagle Mountain United States. Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, Offenbach, Germany.

Knut Eisermann1, Claudia Avendaño1, Manuel Acevedo2, and Esteban Matías3

1PROEVAL RAXMU Bird Monitoring Program, Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] 2Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas – Centro de Datos para la Conservación, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. E-mail: [email protected] 3Coordinator of Commissions of Natural Resources in the Parque Regional Municipal “K’ojlab’l Tze’ Te’ Tnom Todos Santos Cuchumatán”, Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), Todos Santos Cuchumatán, dpto. Huehuetenango, Guatemala. E-mail: [email protected]

Confirmation of the night snake Hypsiglena tanzeri in Hidalgo, Mexico, and a new record for Reserva de la Biósfera de la Barranca de Metztitlán

The genus Hypsiglena is comprised of nine described species (Mulcahy, 2008; Mulcahy et al., 2014; Uetz et al., 2016). Six species (H. affinis, H. catalinae, H. tanzeri, H. torquata, H. sleveni, and H. unaocularus) are endemic to Mexico, and the distribution of five species is restricted to western Mexico; H. affinis and H. torquata are known from the mainland, H. slevini from the central and southern portion of the Baja California Peninsula and some Pacific islands, and the distribution of H. catalinae and H. unocularis is restricted to islands in the Pacific Ocean (Mulcahy, 2008; Mulcahy et al., 2014; Uetz et al., 2016). Conversely, the distribution of H. tanzeri is restricted to central Mexico, where it inhabits arid areas in south-central San Luís Potosí and northeastern Querétaro (Mulcahy, 2008; Dixon and Lemos-Espinal, 2010; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2013; Mulcahy et al., 2014). Recently, Heimes (2016) suggested its presence in northwestern Hidalgo, but did not indicate a specific locality. Presently, therefore, there is no evidence to verify the distribution of this species in Hidalgo.

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Confirmed records for H. jani are available for the state of Hidalgo (Fernández-Badillo and Goyenechea, 2010; Ramírez-Bautista et al., 2014, Lemos-Espinal and Smith, 2015; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2016), from the municipalities of Ixmiquilpan (Fernández- Badillo and Goyenechea, 2010; Lemos- Espinal and Dixon, 2016) and Tasquillo (Morales-Capellán, 2010). Herein, we provide evidence for the occurrence of H. tanzeri in southwestern and central Hidalgo. Additionally, we report a record for this species from Reserva de la Biósfera de la Barranca de Metztitlán. While conducting a herpetofaunal survey, a juvenile H. tanzeri was found (CH-CIB 1949; Fig. 1) at La Paila, Río Verde, Municipio de Tecozautla, Hidalgo (20. 566825°N, -99.617083°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,600 m; 15 March 2009; Nallely Morales-Capellán. The Fig. 1. Hypsiglena tanzeri (CH-CIB 1949), from La Paila, Teco- snake was found in xerophytic scrub and er- zautla, Hidalgo. ' © Adriana López-Mejía roneously recorded as H. jani (López-Mejía, 2011), but after a detailed examination its identification was determined to be H. tanzeri. The specimen measured 153.8 mm in snout–vent length (SVL) and 197.5 mm in total length (TL), and the scalation characters are as follows: preoculars 1-1; postoculars; loreals 1; temporals 1+2+3, supralabials 7, infralabials 10; ventrals 178, and dorsal scale rows 21-21- 17. The above scalation characters coincide with those reported for H. tanzeri (Dixon and Lieb, 1979; Dixon and Lemos-Espinal, 2010; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2013). Additionally, on 26 April 2016 a specimen of H. tanzeri (CH-CIB 78; Fig. 2) was found at Reserva de la Biósfera de la Barranca de Metztitlán, in Tlatepexe, Municipio de Metztitlán, Hidalgo (20.611272°N, -98.781795°W; WGS 84) elev., 1,302 m. The snake was found within a quarry surrounded by xerophytic shrub. This record increases the snake richness within the reserve to 21 species; previous records were reported by Vite-Silva et al. (2010), Cruz-Elizalde et al. (2015), and Fig. 2. Hypsiglena tanzeri (CH-CIB 78), from Tlatepexe, Metz- Fernández-Badillo et al. (2016a). The snake titlán, Hidalgo. ' © Cristián Raúl Olvera-Olvera was measured, photographed, and realesed. The measuremnts were 163 mm (SVL) and 215.2 mm (TL) and the remaining scalation characters coincide with those reported for this species (Dixon and Lieb, 1972; Dixon and Lemos-Espinal, 2010; Lemos-Espinal and Dixon, 2013). Luis Canseco-Márquez corroborated the identification of both specimens.

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These are the southernmost records for H. tanzeri, and increase the distribution of this species 73.46 km to the SW and 86 km to the SE (respectively) from the closest know locality (Fig. 3) at 4 mi (= 6.4 km) W of Landa de Matamoros, Querétaro (Dixon and Lieb, 1979). This records also increases the herpetofaunal list reported for both ecoregions of the Hidalgo arid zone to 83 species, as previously reported by Fernández-Badillo et al. (2016b).

Fig. 3. Distribution map of Hypsiglena jani in Hidalgo; first records of H. tanzeri from Hidalgo, including both ecoregions in the arid zone of Hidalgo; CMM = Central Mexican Matorral; MCM = Meseta Central Matorral, the Reserva de la Biósfera de la Barranca de Metztitlán (RBBM), and the closest record of H. tanzeri in Querétaro.

Acknowledgments.––Funding and logistical support was provided by Projects FOMIX-CONACyT- HGO-2012-191908. We thank SEMARNAT for issuing the collecting permit to Irene Goyenechea FAUT 022. We also are grateful to Maximino Sánchez-Cabrera for finding the second snake and allowing us to take the data, and to Cristián Raúl Olvera-Olvera for providing photos of the animal.

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Literature cited

Cruz-Elizalde, R., A. Ramírez-Bautista, L. D. Wilson, and U. Lemos-Espinal, J. A., and J. R. Dixon. 2016. Anfibios y Reptiles Hernández-Salinas. 2015. Effectiveness of protected areas de Hidalgo, Mexico / Amphibians and Reptiles of Hidalgo, in herpetofaunla conservation in Hidalgo, Mexico. Herpeto- Mexico. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la logical Journal 25: 41–48. Biodiversidad, México, D.F., Mexico. Dixon, J. R., and C. S. Lieb. 1972. A new night snake from Mex- López-Mejía, A. 2011. Herpetofauna de la Localidad de La Paila, ico (Serpentes: Colubridae). Los Angeles County Museum Municipio de Tecozautla, Hidalgo. Unpublished Licenciature Contributions in Science 222: 1–7. thesis, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachu- Dixon, J. R., and J. A. Lemos-Espinal. 2010. Anfibios y Reptiles ca, Hidalgo, Mexico. del Estado de Querétaro, México / Amphibians and Reptiles Morales-Capellán, N. 2010. Herpetofauna de Dos Ambientes of State of Queretaro, Mexico. Texas A&M University, Contrastantes del Municipio de Tasquillo, Hidalgo. Unpub- College Station, Texas, United States, Universidad Nacio- lished Licenciature thesis, Universidad Autónoma del Estado nal Autónoma de México, Los Reyes Iztacala Tlalnepantla, de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. México, Mexico, and Comisión para el Conocimiento y Uso Mulcahy, D. G. 2008. Phylogeography and species boundaries of de la Biodiversidad, México, D. F. Mexico. the western North American Night Snake (Hypsiglena torqua- Fernández-Badillo, L., and I. Goyenechea. 2010. Anfibios y ta): revisting the subespecies concept. Molecular Phylogenet- reptiles del Valle del Mezquital, Hidalgo, México. Revista ics and Evolution 46: 1,095–1,115. Mexicana de Biodiversidad 81: 705–712. Mulcahy, D. G., J. E. Marínez-Gómez, G. Aguirre-León, J. A. Fernández-Badillo, L., C. R. Olvera-Olvera, R. Valdez-Lares, Cervantes-Pasquialli, and G. R. Zug. 2014. Rediscovery of F. Torres-Angeles, and I. Goyenechea. 2016a. Distribu- an endemic vertebrate from the remote Islas Revillagigedo tion Notes. New records of Thamnophis pulchrilatus in the in the eastern Pacific Ocean: the Clarión Nightsnake lost and state of Hidalgo, México. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3: found. Plos One 9: 1–8. 519–523. Ramírez-Bautista, A., U. hernández-Salinas, R. Cruz-Elizalde, Fernández-Badillo, L., N. L. Manríquez-Morán, J. M. Cas- C. Berriozabal-Islas, D. Lara-Tufiño, I. Goyenechea, and tillo-Cerón, and I. Goyenechea. 2016b. Analisis herpeto- J. M. Castillo-Cerón. 2014. Los Anfibios y Reptiles de faunístico de la zona árida del estado de Hidalgo. Revista Hidalgo, México: Diversidad, Biogeografía y Conservación. Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 156–170. Pachuca, Hidalgo, México: Sociedad Herpetológica Mexi- Heimes, P. 2016. Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. 1: Snakes of Mexi- cana, México, D.F., México. co. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Uetz, P., P. Freed., and J. Hošek. 2016. The Reptile Database. Lemos-Espinal, J. A., and J. R. Dixon. 2013. Amphibians and (www.reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?tax- Reptiles of San Luis Potosí. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, on=Dipsadinae&submit=Search; accessed 25 December Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States. 2016) Lemos-Espinal, J. A., and G. Smith. 2015. Amphibians and rep- Vite-Silva, V. D., A. Ramírez-Bautista, and U. Hernández-Sali- tiles of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Check List 11: 1–11. nas. 2010. Diversidad de anfibios y reptiles de la Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 81: 473–485.

Nallely Morales-Capellán1, Leonardo-Fernández-Badillo1,2, Adriana López-Mejía3, Guillermo Sánchez-Martínez1,4, and Irene Goyenechea5

1Predio Intensivo de Manejo de Vida Silvestre X-Plora Reptilia, Carretera México-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlán, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) 3Secretaria de Salud de Hidalgo, Subdirección de prevención de enfermedades, Boulevard Luis Donaldo Colosio # 516, Colonia Calabazas, Plaza vía montaña, Local 1. E-mail: [email protected] 4Unidad de Manejo para la Conservación de la Vida Silvestre (UMA) Santa Ana, Carretera México-Tampico s/n, Pilas y granadas, 43350, Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México. 5Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad del conocimiento, Km 4.5 Carretera Pachuca- Tulancingo, Col. Carboneras, 42181 Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, México. E-mail: [email protected]

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Captive longevity for Micrurus nigrocinctus (Serpentes: Elapidae) at Insituto Clodomiro Picado, Costa Rica

As presently understood, the distribution of the Central American Coralsnake, Micrurus nigrocinctus, extends from Mexico to northwestern Colombia (Campbell and Lamar, 2004). In Costa Rica, this species is found in lowlands and premontane slopes, including the Meseta Central, and marginally into lower montane areas, at elevations from sea level to 1,500 m (Savage, 2002). The average adult length of M. nigrocinctus is 60–75 cm, but the maximum known total length is 115 cm (Savage, 2002; Campbell and Lamar, 2004). Its diet consists of a variety of amphibians and reptiles, but primarily snakes (Savage, 2002; Solórzano, 2004). In captivity most coralsnakes refuse to feed and generally die within a few months (Serapicos and Merusse, 2002b); feeding them, therefore, is a major problem to overcome when maintaining a substantial collection to provide enough venom for the production of antivenom (Chacón et al., 2012). Herein, we report a captive longevity record for an individual of M. nigrocinctus maintained for venom production at the Instituto Cloromiro Picado (ICP), located in Dulce Nombre de Coronado, Provincia de San José, Costa Rica. Husbandry and Venom Extraction A male Micrurus nigrocinctus was brought to the ICP on 6 November 1989 and assigned collection number 89-08, and then placed in quarantine. The individual had been collected in Orotina, Provincia de Alajuela. Housing for the snake consisted of an enclosure with a metal frame that provided support for the acrylic plastic used for the floor and walls, with metallic mesh on the top for ventilation. The enclosure was divided into two parts, in which individual snakes were maintained. Each side of the enclosure measured 34 × 35 × 15.5 cm (L × W × H). Paper was used as a substrate and water was supplied ad libitum, and both these were changed twice per week. A heating pad that provided a temperature gradient of 23–26°C was placed beneath the enclosure, and the relative humidity within the enclosure ranged from 77 to 88%. The M. nigrocinctus was fed a diet of three different food items (Fig. 1). The first was snakes of the genus

Geophis, which were maintained at the serpentarium; the snakes were euthanized with CO2, and kept frozen until they were used. When the coralsnake was fed, a Geophis sp. was selected according to its body mass and length, then thawed in water at room temperature. The food item was held with forceps and presented to the M. nigrocinctus, moving it slowly to stimulate feeding behavior (Chacón et al., 2012) (Fig. 3). Later, the snake accepted a second diet consisting of laboratory mice (Mus musculus) with a body mass of 1.2–2.2 g (1–8 neonates were offered every 15 days). The mice were dead and presented to the snake with forceps, again to stimulate a feeding response (Fig. 3). The snake then was offered a third diet, fish consisting of tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) fillets, which were presented every 15 days; Chacón et al. (2012) described the preparation of this diet. The size of the elongated piece of fish was based on the body mass and length of the snake, considering the potential size of a natural prey item, and presented with forceps while simulating snake-like movements to elicit a feeding response (Chacón et al., 2012; Fig. 3). During the time the M. nigrocinctus was maintained in captivity, it subjected to venom extractions on an average of about three times per year, followed by an interval of four months to reduce stress on the animal (Fig. 1). The snake was grasped carefully behind the head, and the venom was extracted from each fang while gently massaging the corresponding venom gland. The length and body mass of the snake were recorded during each extraction.

Results and Conclusions The staff of the serpentarium maintained the Micrurus nigrocinctus alive for nearly 25 years, from 6 November 1989 to 14 August 2014, and during this time the individual was fed on three different food items (Fig. 1). After the coralsnake adapted to captivity, it began to accept the Geophis; it was maintained on this diet from 23 January 1990 to 9 February 2000. Because of the difficulty of maintaining a constant supply of Geophis, however, the serpentarium staff decided to begin feeding the snake on young laboratory mice; this diet was maintained from 19 March 2000 to 3 May 2005.

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In 2005, unforeseen problems with the breeding program at the ICP rodent facility led to a scarcity of laboratory mice, which prompted the staff to search for another food item that also would provide the necessary nutritional requirements. Consequently, the third food item consisting of tilapia fillets was offered and accepted by the snake, and it was maintained on this diet from 1 June 2005 to 8 August 2014 (Fig. 3). Venom extraction during the first 10 years (when the diet consisted of Geophis) was more intensive, but during the last nine years (when it consisted of tilapia) venom only was extracted three times per year (Fig. 1). The body mass of the M. nigrocinctus fluctuated during its time in captivity (Fig. 2). A significant loss in body mass was recorded during the first two years, but during the next 17 years, an increase in body mass was recorded, including during the transition from the snake-based to the fish-based diet. During the last four years of captivity, however, the body mass began to decrease; nevertheless, the body mass of the snake increased a total of 23.2 g from the time the snake entered quarantine and until the last time it was recorded. Maintaining snake colonies in captivity for general or specific purposes, whether in museums (including scientific collections), zoos, or in private collections can be a complicated process (Ashley and Burchfield, 1969; Murphy and Armstrong, 1978). Furthermore, with snakes, a preference for keeping vipers, boids/pythons, and non-venomous snakes exists over elapids, and especially coralsnakes (Serapicos and Meruse, 2002a, 2002b; Braz et al., 2012). Nevertheless, with regard to species of Micrurus, three snakes in this genus have been maintained in captivity from between 10+ and 19+ years (Slavens and Slavens, 2016). The M. nigrocinctus reported herein was maintained in captivity for 24 years, nine months, and eight days, which to our knowledge represents a longevity record not only for the species, but also for members of this genus. Chacón et al. (2012: 252) used two groups of M. nigrocinctus that were fed on different food items (one group on snakes, the other on fish), and their results indicated that the “two groups do not differ significantly in terms of body weight gain, venom yield, venom HPLC pattern and LD50; additionally, snakes fed with fish showed a significantly higher survival time in captivity.” The results shown in this note further corroborate those findings.

Venom Extractions and Diet Offered per Year Venom Extractions Venom

Fig. 1. Venom extraction processes performed per year and the period of food items offered to the Micrurus nigrocinctus.

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Body Mass (g) Variation Across the Years Body Mass (g)

Fig. 2. Variation in the body mass of the Micrurus nigrocinctus throughout its time in captivity.

A B C

Fig. 3. Three different food items accepted by the Micrurus nigrocinctus. (A).A snake based diet; (B) a mouse based diet, and (C) a fish based diet. ' © Greivin Corrales (A), Danilo Chacón (B), and Aarón Gómez (C)

Acknowledgments.––We thank Santos Rodríguez for help with the maintenance of this coralsnake.

Literature Cited

Ashley, B. D., and P. M. Burchfield. 1968. Maintenance of a Chacón, D., S. Rodríguez, J. Arias, G. Solano, F. Bonilla, and snake colony for the purpose of venom extraction. Toxicon. A. Gómez. 2012. Maintaining coral snakes (Micrurus nigro- 5: 267–275. cinctus, Serpentes: Elapidae) for venom production on an Braz H.B., M. M. T. Rocha, and M. F. D. Furtado. 2012. alternative ﬁsh-based diet. Toxicon. 60: 249–25. Maintaining rear-fanged snakes for venom production: an Murphy J. B., and B. L. Armstrong. 1978. Maintenance of Rat- evaluation of mortality and survival rates for Philodryas tlesnakes in Captivity. Special Publication No. 3, University olfersii and P. patagoniensis in captivity. The Journal of of Kansas Museum of National History, The University of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases. Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States. 2: 164–172. Savage, J. M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: Campbell, J. A., and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, United ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, States. United States.

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Serapicos, E. O., and J. L. B. Merusse. 2002a. Variação de peso e Slavens, F. L., and K. Slavens. 2016 (data accumulation discontin- sobrevida de Micrurus corallinus sobre diferentes condições ued in 2000). Reptiles and Amphibians in Captivity: Breeding de alimentação em biotério (Serpentes, Elapidae). Iheringia ––Longevity. (www.pondturtle.com/lsnaked.html#Micrurus; Série Zoologia. 92: 105–109. accessed 25 November 2016) Serapicos, E. O., and J. L. B. Merusse. 2002b. Análise compara- Solórzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica: Distribución, tiva entre tipos de alimentação de Micrurus corallinus (Ser- Taxonomía e Historia Natural / Snakes of Costa Rica: Dis- pentes, Elapidae) em cautiverio. Iheringa Série Zoologia. 92: tribution, Taxonomy, and Natural History. Instituto Nacional 99–103. de Biodiversidad (INBio), Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica.

Danilo Chacón1, Aarón Gómez1, and Greivin Corrales1

1Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Sección Serpentario, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica. E-mail: [email protected] (GC, Corresponding author)

First report of Porthidium ophryomegas (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from Mexico, with comments on the status of an endangered biogeographical formation

An effort was made to determine if any medically important venomous snakes with a known distribution limited to Central America might occur within the boundaries of Mexico. A review of literature on the venomous snakes of Central America (Köhler, 2008; Campbell and Lamar, 2004) revealed the distribution of two venomous snakes in western Guatemala that have not been reported from Mexico (Micrurus stuarti and Porthidium ophryomegas). In 2016 we made an effort to determine if the distribution of P. ophryomegas extends into Mexico. The closest known record of this species to Mexican territory is at Champerico, Departamento de Retalhuleu, Guatemala (Campbell and Lamar, 2004), a locality in Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest (sensu Grünwald et al., 2015). Using rainfall data and municipality border overlays available online (Herp MX, 2009), and data from INEGI, we determined that an 80 km × 20 km stretch of Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest exists (or existed) along the coastal plain of the Socunusco region of Chiapas. We searched this area and interviewed local residents about the venomous snakes inhabiting this region, and discuss the results below. Museum abbreviations are UTADC for the University of Texas-Arlington Digital collection and CBUVG for the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Colección Biológica.

Porthidium ophryomegas (Bocourt, 1868). MEXICO: CHIAPAS: Municipio de Tapachula, Tinajas 1a. Sección (14.694986°N, -92.346860°W); elev. 12 m; 17 September 2016; Omar Aguilar-Moreno. An adult of unknown sex (Photo vouchers UTADC-8741–42) was found dead on a trail in the afternoon near a mango (Mangifera sp.) orchard in Tropical Dry Forest (Fig. 1A, B). This voucher represents the first record of this species for Mexico, as well as for the state of Chiapas. It also extends the known distribution of Porthidium ophryomegas 64 km to the NW from the nearest record (CBUVG 2777), which was collected at Finca Ixtlán, in Champerico, Departamento de Retalhuleu, Guatemala (14.3139°N, -91.89788°W). A second adult of unknown sex was killed in the vicinity of the same orchard on 8 October 2016 (Photo vouchers UTADC-8743–44) by local farmers and photographed by Omar Aguilar-Moreno (Fig. 1C, D). Neither snake was collected.

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Fig 1. (A, B, C, D) Dorsal views (A,C) and close-ups of the heads (B, D) of two individuals of Porthidium ophryomegas that were found dead by locals in Municipio de Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico in 2016. ' © Omar Aguilar Moreno

In Mexico, P. ophryomegas only is known from the Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest biogeographic formation (sensu Grünwald et al., 2015; Fig. 2), This species is not expected to occur elsewhere in the country, as the Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest biogeographical formation extends only along the coast in the municipalities of Suchiate, Tapachula, and Mazatán. This habitat has been decimated by agricultural activities and only tiny “islands” of the original habitat remain (see Fig. 2), including the Aeropuerto Internacional de Tapachula and a series of hammocks in the mangroves between Puerto Chiapas and Playa El Gancho, where agricultural activities have not commenced because of the inaccessability of the mangroves for tractors. A final “island” of what might be considered suitable habitat is present around Barra San Simón, although this habitat is more mesic and might not support the same fauna. Importantly, Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest is the most degredaded biogeographical formation in Mexico, and species in Mexico restricted to this habitat should be regarded as endangered in the country. The authors observed two individuals of this species at the same mango orchard on 14 December 2016 (Fig. 3A, B) while this note was in press, and included these photos here to supplement the photographic material available for this species in Mexico.

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Fig 2. Map of former and new northernmost record of Porthidium ophryomegas, depicting the former extent of the Guatemalan Tropical Dry Forest in Mexico and the remnants thereof.

Fig 3. (A, B) Lateral views of two live individuals of Porthidium ophryomegas from Municipio de Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, observed by the authors in December of 2016 while this note was in press. ' © Christoph I. Grünwald

Acknowledgments.—We thank Nadia Pérez-Rivera for her untiring assistance in the field, and for help with other logistics in the municipalities of Huixtla, Tapachula and Suchiate. We also are grateful to Jonathan Campbell and Jacobo Reyes-Velasco for identifying the snakes and providing information on specimens collected in Guatemala.We thank Omar Aguilar-Moreno for providing photographs of the snakes, and Carl J. Franklin of the University of Texas-Arlington for cataloguing the digital photographs.

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Literature Cited

Bocourt, M. F. 1868. Descriptions de quelques crotaliens nou- Viperidae: Crotalinae) from eastern Mexico, with comments veaux appartenant au genre Bothrops, recueillis dans le on the taxonomy of related pitvipers. Mesoamerican Herpe- Guatemala. Annales des Sciences Naturelles—Zoologieet tology 2: 387–416. th Biologie Animale, 5 ser., 10: 201–202. Herp MX - Mexico Map Pack. 2009. Map Pack v.1.0. (www.herp. Campbell, J. A. and W. W. Lamar. 2004. The Venomous Reptiles mx/pubs/HERPMX-Mexico-Map-Pack-v1.0.kmz; accessed of the Western Hemisphere. 2 Volumes. Comstock Publish- 14 October 2015). ing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd ed. Herpeton, United States. Offenbach, Germany. Grünwald, C. I., J. M. Jones, H. Franz-Chávez and I. T. Ahuma- da-Carrillo. 2015. A new species of Ophryacus (Serpentes:

Christoph I. Grünwald1,2,3, Karen I. Morales-Flores2,4, Héctor Franz-Chávez2,4, Alexander I. Hermosillo-López2,4, and Jason M. Jones2,3

1Biencom Real Estate, Carretera Chapala - Jocotepec #57-1, C.P. 45920, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico. E-mail: [email protected] 2Biodiversa A. C., Avenida de la Ribera #203, C.P. 45900, Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. 3Herpetological Conservation International, Mesoamerica Division, 450 Jolina Way, Encinitas, California 92024, United States. 4Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Carretera a Nogales Km. 15.5. Las Agujas, Nextipac, Zapopan, C.P. 45110, Jalisco, Mexico.

New herpetofaunal records for Parque Nacional Montecristo, El Salvador

Historically, amphibians and reptiles have been relatively understudied in El Salvador, with the first major work conducted by Mertens (1952). Since that time, several works on the herpetofauna of the country involving museum specimens, conservation, or geographic distribution have been published (Köhler et al., 1998; Leenders and Watkins-Colwell, 2004; Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; Morán-Hidalgo and Ruballo-Marroquín, 2012; Hidalgo et al., 2013; Ruballo-Marroquín and Moran-Hidalgo, 2013; Morán et al., 2015). In a conservation assessment of protected areas in El Salvador, Greenbaum and Komar (2010) reported the number of amphibian and reptiles species in the department of Santa Ana as 22 and 66, respectively. The most current list for Parque Nacional Montecristo (PNM), located in the department of Santa Ana and the municipialty of Metapán (Fig. 1), indicates records for 15 species of amphibians and 34 of reptiles (Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, 2010). In this note we provide information on new herpetofaunal records for PNM (5 amphibians, 10 reptiles), and range extensions for areas within the department of Santa Ana. All of the localities for the vouchers below are within PNM, except where noted (1 species). We deposited the digital vouchers at the University of Texas Arlington Digital Collection (UTADC), and express all geographic coordinates in map datum WGS 84.

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Fig. 1. Map of El Salvador, with star indicating the location of the study site in Parque Nacional Montecristo.

Amphibia: Caudata Family Plethodontidae Bolitoglossa mexicana (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.380160°N, 89.400700°W; WGS 84); elev. 1,225 m; 23 February 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8724; Fig. 2A. The individual was found active on a road in a transition zone between semi-deciduous and oak-pine forest. This voucher represents an elevational record for this species in the country, with an increase of 222 m, as well as the second reported locality for the country and the first for the department (Morán et al., 2015).

Oedipina taylori (Stuart, 1952). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.361987°N, 89.402643°W; WGS 84); elev. 845 m; 12 April 2007; Nohemi Guerra; UTADC-8725; Fig. 2 B. The salamander was found in an area of heli- conias ca. 500 m from the park boundary. This voucher represents a new departmental record, with the closest localities in the departments of Ahuachapán, La Libertad, and Sonsonate (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016). Amphibia: Anura Family Hylidae Dendropsophus robertmertensi (Taylor, 1937). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.376898°N, 89.400599°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,210 m; 8 August 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8726; Fig. 2 C. The frog was found vocalizing in a fishpond called Majaditas, located in a transition zone between semi-deciduous and oak-pine forest. CJP observed more individuals at a lower elevation in subdeciduous forest. This voucher represents a new departmental record, with the closest localities in the departments of Chalatenango, La Libertad, and Sonsonate (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

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Family Leptodactylidae Leptodactylus fragilis (Brocchi, 1877). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.376898°N, 89.400599°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,210; 24 May 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8727; Fig. 2 D. The frog was found in a transition zone between semi-deciduous and oak pine forest, in a fishpond called Majaditas. This voucher represents a new departmental record, with the closest localities in the departments of Chalatenango, La Libertad, and Sonsonate (Greenbaum and Komar 2010; VertNet, 2016). Family Microhylidae Hypopachus ustus (Cope, 1866). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.376898°N, 89.400599°W; WGS 84) elev. 1210 m. 24 May 2015. Carlos Juárez Peña. UTADC-8728; Fig. 2 E. Two males (calling) and one female were found in a transition zone between semi-deciduous and oak-pine forest, in a fishpond called Majaditas. These individuals represent the ninth reported locality for this species in the country, which includes some records in the department of Santa Ana, with the closest records in the department of La Libertad (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010). Reptilia: Testudines Family Geoemydidae Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima (Gray, 1855). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.365092°N, 89.399697°W; WGS 84) elev. 936 m; 3 September 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8729; Fig. 2 F. Three individuals were found in the semi-deciduous forest, within a stream that traverses the community of San José; a fourth individual also was observed at a higher elevation in cloud forest. The records the twenty-first and twenty-second locality for this species in the country, respectively. The nearest reported localities are in the departments of Ahuachapán, La Libertad, and Sonsonate (Greenbaum and Komar 2010; VertNet, 2016).

A B C

E F

D E F

Fig. 2. (A) Bolitoglossa mexicana; (B) Oedipina taylori; (C) Dendropsophus robertmertensi; (D) Leptodactylus fragilis; (E) Hypopachus ustus; and (F) Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima. ' © Carlos Peña (A, C, D, E, F) and Nohemí Guerra (B)

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Family Kinosternidae Kinosternon scorpioides (Linnaeus, 1766). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.366246°N, 89.402221°W; WGS 84) elev. 920 m; 21 November 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8730; Fig. 3 A. The turtle was found in semi-deciduous forest, in a fishpond. This species has been recorded in all the departments in the country (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016). Reptilia: Squamata (lizards) Family Anguidae Celestus bivittatus (Boulenger, 1869). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.383333°N, 89.350000°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,731 m; 2 September 2015; Fredi Arnoldo Magaña; UTADC-8731–32; Fig. 3 B. The lizard was found in disturbed pine forest, in the buffer zone outside the park and along the periphery of a school. This voucher represents the second locality for department and for third the country, with the nearest locality in the department of Ahuachapán (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010). Reptilia: Squamata (snakes) Family Colubridae Enulius flavitorques (Cope, 1869). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.361987°N, 89.402643°W; WGS 84) elev. 845 m; 22 May 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8733; Fig. 3 C. The snake was found in semi-deciduous forest. This voucher represents the eleventh locality in the country, which includes some records in the department of Santa Ana, with the nearest record the the department of La Libertad (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

Leptophis mexicanus (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.350000°N, 89.383333°W; WGS 84) elev. 941 m; May 2012; Jeniffer Abrego; UTADC-8734; Fig. 3 D. The snake was found in semi-deciduous forest, and represents the ninth locality for the country. The nearest recorded localities are in the departments of Chalatenango and La Libertad (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

Mastigodryas dorsalis (Bocourt, 1890). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.383333°N, 89.350000°W; WGS 84) elev. 1493 m; 7 April 2016; José Ruiz; UTADC-8735; Fig. 3 E. The snake was found in cloud forest inside a house. This voucher represents the fourteenth locality for the country, with the nearest recorded localities in the departments of Ahuachapán, Chalatenango, and La Libertad (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

Mastigodryas melanolomus (Cope 1868). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.350000°N, 89.240000°W; WGS 84) 830 m; 30 April 2013; Nohemi Guerra; UTADC-8736; Fig. 4 A. The snake was found in semi-deciduous forest, and represents the fourth locality in the country, which includes some records in the department of Santa Ana (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010).

Ninia sebae (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.362800°N, 89.400923°W; WGS 84) elev. 872 m; 9 August 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8737; Fig. 4 B. The snake was found in semi-deciduous forest, crossing the road through the town at night. This voucher represents the first record for the department, with other records in the neighboring departments of Ahuachapán, Chalatenango, and La Libertad (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

Scolecophis atrocinctus (Schlegel, 1837). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.388056°N, 89.374722°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,800 m; 30 April 2015; Nohemi Guerra; UTADC-8738; Fig. 4 C. The snake was found in oak pine forest, and represents a departmental record. This species has been recorded in the neighboring departments of Ahuachapán, La Libertad, and Sonsonate (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

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A B

C B

D E

Fig. 3. (A) Kinosternon scorpioides; (B) Celestus bivittatus; (C) Enulius flavitorques; (D) Leptophis mexicanus; and (E) Mastigodryas dorsalis. ' © Carlos Peña (A, C), Fredi Magaña (B), Jennifer Abrego (D), and José Ruíz (E)

Sibon anthracops (Cope, 1868). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.370561°N, 89.404405°W; WGS 84) elev. 1,060 m; 25 May 2015; Carlos Juárez Peña; UTADC-8739; Fig. 4 D. The snake was found in semi-deciduous forest, crossing the road at night. This voucher represents the first record for the park and the fourth locality for the country; this species previously was recodeed in the departments of Cuscatlán and San Salvador (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010).

Stenorrhina freminvillei (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854). SANTA ANA: Municipio de Metapán (14.362363°N, 89.407184°W; WGS 84) elev. 858 m; 16 July 2013; Alvin Melara; UTADC-8740; Fig. 4 E. The snake was found dead along the edge of a road through semi-deciduous forest. Other records are available for the department of Santa Ana (Greenbaum and Komar, 2010; VertNet, 2016).

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A B

C D

Fig. 4. (A) Mastigrodryas melanolomus; (B) Ninia sebae; (C) Scolecophis atrocinctus; (D) Sibon anthracops; and (E) Stenorrhina freminvillei. ' © Nohemí Guerra (A, C), Carlos Peña (B, D), and Alvin Melara (E)

Acknowledgments.––We thank Maritza Guido, Nohemi Guerra, forest rangers at Parque Nacional Montecristo field assistance, Eli Greenbaum and Vladlen Henriquez for confirming the species identification, Carl J. Franklin for providing the photo voucher numbers, Jaime Mejía for assisting with literature, and Louis Porras for his comments and recommendations.

Literature Cited

Greenbaum, E., and O. Komar. 2010. A conservation assessment Reptiles. Eagle Mountain Publishing, L.C., Eagle Mountain, of Salvadoran protected areas: priorities and recommen- Utah, United States. dations based on amphibians and reptiles distribution. Pp. Hidalgo, E. S. M., V. E. Henríquez, and N. E. R. Marroquin. 437–459. In L. D. Wilson, J. H. Townsend, and J. D. John- 2013. Nueva localidad y gradiente altitudinal de Oedipina son (Eds.), Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and taylori (Stuart, 1952) (Caudata: Plethodontidae) en El Salva- dor. Revista Biodiversidad Neotropical 3: 69–74.

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Köhler, G., M. Veselý, and E. Greenbaum. 2006. The Amphibi- Morán-Hidalgo, E. S., and N. E. Ruballo-Marroquín. 2012. ans and Reptiles of El Salvador. Krieger Publishing Compa- Nueva localidad de Plectrohyla guatemalensis (Brocchi, ny, Malabar, Florida, United States. 1987) (Anura: Hylidae) en el departamento de Chalatenango, Leenders, T., and G. J. Watkins-Colwell. 2004. Notes on a col- El Salvador. Revista Biodiversidad Neotropical 2: 126-130. lection of amphibians and reptiles from El Salvador. Postilla Morán, E. S., N. E Ruballo, and R. A. Vásquez. 2015. Primer reg- 231: 1–31. istro de Bolitoglossa mexicana (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril, Mertens, R. 1952. Die Amphibien und Reptilien von El Salvador. 1854) (Caudata: Plethodontidae) en El Salvador. Cuadernos Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden de Herpetología 29: 161–162. Gesellschaft. 487: 1–120. Ruballo-Marroquín, N. E., and E. S. Morán-Hidalgo. 2013. Nue- Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. 2010. vo registro de Hypopachus variolosus (Cope, 1866) (Anura: Guía de Anfibios y Reptiles Parque Nacional Montecristo. Microhylidae) en el departamento de La Libertad, El Salva- 20 pp. dor. Revista Biodiversidad Neotropical 3: 65–68. VertNet. 2016. (www.vertnet.org; accessed 18 September 2016).

Carlos-Juárez-Peña1,2, Ángel Sosa Bartuano2,3, and Silvia Sigüenza-Mejia1

1Facultad Multidisciplinaria de Occidente, Universidad de El Salvador, Santa Ana, El Salvador. 2Red Mesoamericana y del Caribe para la Conservación de Anfibios y Reptiles (Red MesoHerp). E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding Author) 3Colaborador, Museo de Vertebrados de la Universidad de Panamá, Ciudad de Panamá, Panama.

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